Hong Kong Takes Key Step in Advancing Traditional Chinese Medicine – An Overview of the City’s First TCM Development Blueprint
On December 18, 2025, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government officially released its first Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint (hereinafter referred to as the “Blueprint”). Framed around five core areas, guided by eight key objectives, and supported by twenty specific initiatives, the document clearly outlines the vision and strategy for the future development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Hong Kong. Coinciding with the recent commencement of operations at Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital, the release of this Blueprint marks a transition for TCM development in the city—from a phase of fragmented policies to a new stage of comprehensive, high-quality, and advanced development. As a treasured component of China’s excellent traditional culture, TCM enjoys deep-rooted public acceptance in Hong Kong. The implementation of this Blueprint will further leverage Hong Kong’s unique advantage of being “backed by the motherland and connected to the world,” positioning the city as a vital bridgehead for TCM’s global expansion.
I. Release of the Blueprint: Addressing Public Needs and Aligning with National Development
TCM has long held a significant place within Hong Kong’s healthcare system and enjoys strong public trust. Data indicates that Hong Kong is currently home to over 10,000 registered Chinese medicine practitioners, more than 90% of whom practice in the private sector. Annual TCM consultations exceed 16 million, with related expenditures surpassing HKD 1.2 billion. Historically, the enactment of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance in 1999 provided a legal framework for TCM practice, trade, and production in Hong Kong, promoting the gradual modernization of the industry. The proportion of healthcare consultations involving TCM services in Hong Kong has increased from 7.5% in 1996 to 24.3% in 2023.
Nevertheless, TCM development in Hong Kong has long faced several bottlenecks. The public healthcare system has yet to fully utilize the capacity of its thousands of TCM practitioners, and supporting infrastructure—such as clinical facilities and research laboratories—remains insufficient. Some Chinese medicine manufacturers, constrained by resources, have struggled to complete the transition to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards that align with international norms, hindering market expansion. Concurrently, at the national level, China is vigorously promoting the high-quality development of TCM, and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a TCM hub is steadily progressing. Against this backdrop, Hong Kong urgently needed a systematic policy document to align with the national development strategy and address its own developmental challenges. Following years of research and extensive consultation with local, Mainland, and international stakeholders, the SAR Government has now promulgated this landmark TCM Development Blueprint.
Secretary for Health of the HKSAR Government, Professor Lo Chung-mau, stated clearly that the formulation of the Blueprint not only aligns with the national overarching policy for TCM development but also fully considers Hong Kong’s strengths under the “one country, two systems” principle and its TCM regulatory system. The aim is to enable citizens to enjoy more comprehensive and higher-quality TCM services while fostering Hong Kong’s deeper integration into the Greater Bay Area TCM hub and the national TCM development landscape.
II. Core Analysis: Five Areas, Eight Objectives Outlining a Panorama for TCM Development
With the core vision of “inheriting TCM wisdom, utilizing TCM to enhance public health, and establishing Hong Kong as a bridgehead for Chinese medicine’s global reach,” this Blueprint encompasses five key areas: TCM Services, TCM Profession, Chinese Medicines Development, Cultural Heritage, and Global Engagement. It proposes eight major objectives and twenty specific actions, forming a comprehensive development plan covering diagnosis and treatment, talent development, industry, culture, and international cooperation.
1. Focusing on Clinical Services: Strengthening Primary Care Foundations and Enhancing Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
The Blueprint prioritizes the optimization of TCM clinical services, clarifying TCM’s core position within Hong Kong’s healthcare system and highlighting its areas of strength. Specifically, it will involve researching and formulating a list of disease areas where TCM demonstrates notable efficacy. Currently covering 23 conditions including post-stroke rehabilitation, knee osteoarthritis, and chronic pain, this list will be gradually expanded. This will allow citizens convenient access to targeted TCM services within their communities. Furthermore, the Blueprint proposes strengthening TCM’s role in primary healthcare, establishing a robust cross-disciplinary collaboration system, developing clear clinical guidelines and referral pathways, and deepening cooperation between TCM practitioners and professionals such as Western medicine doctors and physiotherapists. This aims to achieve resource sharing and seamless coordination between different healthcare institutions, providing patients with integrated and diversified medical services.
Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital, which recently commenced operations, serves as a crucial practical vehicle for implementing the Blueprint. According to the Hospital’s Executive Director, Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, since its phased launch on December 11, 2025, operations have been smooth with strong patient demand. The hospital provides approximately 200 consultation slots daily on average. Government-subsidized general outpatient slots are consistently fully booked, and its six specialty clinics are nearly 90% occupied. The hospital has already increased outpatient capacity by 30% to meet demand. The successful operation of this hospital provides solid hardware support for realizing the Blueprint’s objective of “optimizing excellent clinical services.”
2. Strengthening Professional Development: Refining the Talent System and Elevating Industry Standards
High-quality development of the TCM profession is the core driver for the advancement of the TCM industry. The Blueprint explicitly sets the objective to “lead the development of the TCM profession,” launching multiple initiatives focused on talent cultivation, capability enhancement, and continuous professional development. Regarding talent cultivation, it will establish a more comprehensive TCM talent training system and optimize clinical practice training mechanisms. For capability enhancement, it will further elevate professional competency standards for TCM practitioners, promoting standardized industry development. Concerning continuous development, it will improve mechanisms for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in TCM, empowering practitioners to continually enhance their professional expertise.
Dr. Wu Leung Tsz Wai, Chairman of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong, noted that the Blueprint’s forward-looking measures on professional development will help comprehensively elevate the standards of the TCM profession, laying a solid talent foundation for TCM development. Industry observers widely believe that refining the talent system will effectively address long-standing issues of uneven professional capabilities within Hong Kong’s TCM sector, enhancing overall service quality and credibility.
3. Empowering Industrial Development: Strict Quality Control and Promoting Research Innovation
The standardization and regulation of the Chinese medicines industry are key to its market access and international integration. Within the Chinese Medicines Development area, the Blueprint proposes three objectives: enhancing the quality of Chinese medicines, supporting the establishment of international standards for Chinese medicines, and driving research and industrial innovation. Specific actions include the full implementation of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for proprietary Chinese medicines, strengthening quality management across the entire Chinese medicines supply chain, leveraging the Government’s Chinese Medicines Testing Institute to advance standard research, deepening collaboration with Mainland and Greater Bay Area institutions, and actively participating in establishing international standards for Chinese medicines. It also includes promoting innovative development and clinical trials for Chinese medicines and empowering the industry to cultivate specialized talent in the field.
Hong Kong has long possessed international advantages in healthcare regulation, standard-setting, and clinical research. The release of the Blueprint will further amplify these strengths. By establishing Chinese medicine quality standards aligned with international norms, Hong Kong is poised to facilitate smoother entry of local Chinese medicine products into Mainland and global markets, overcoming previous challenges where some manufacturers struggled with market expansion due to non-compliant standards.
4. Heritage and Global Outreach: Promoting Cultural Confidence and Building an International Hub
The Blueprint focuses not only on the local development of TCM but also on cultural heritage and international promotion. Regarding cultural heritage, it will promote public knowledge of TCM in disease prevention and treatment, foster cross-sector collaboration, and enhance public awareness and cultural confidence in TCM. For international promotion, it will fully leverage Hong Kong’s role as a “super-connector” to facilitate TCM’s “going global.” This includes promoting Hong Kong’s TCM service model worldwide, fostering the international application of Chinese medicine standards and testing technologies, hosting international TCM conferences or exhibitions, and deepening international cooperation—all aimed at establishing Hong Kong as an international hub for TCM information exchange and innovative collaboration.
Secretary Lo Chung-mau emphasized that Hong Kong, backed by the robust TCM capabilities of the motherland and possessing an internationalized healthcare system and regulatory advantages, has both the capability and the responsibility to assist the nation in promoting TCM globally. The various initiatives on international cooperation within the Blueprint will promote Hong Kong’s TCM service models and standards as internationally recognized exemplars, contributing to the global development of TCM.
III. Unique Advantages: Dual Empowerment from Backing of the Motherland and Global Connectivity
Hong Kong possesses irreplaceable, unique advantages in advancing TCM development, which are crucial safeguards for the successful implementation and effectiveness of the Blueprint. On one hand, Hong Kong is “backed by the motherland,” enabling it to fully rely on the Mainland’s abundant TCM resources, rich clinical experience, and well-established industrial ecosystem. The advancement of the Greater Bay Area as a TCM hub provides a vast platform for TCM cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Deep integration in areas such as talent exchange, research collaboration, and mutual recognition of standards will inject strong momentum into Hong Kong’s TCM development.
On the other hand, Hong Kong is “connected to the world,” boasting an internationalized healthcare regulatory system, standard-setting capabilities, and clinical research expertise. In the global promotion of TCM, Hong Kong can leverage its status as an international financial and trade center to build bridges for TCM’s global journey, promote the alignment of TCM standards with international norms, and foster greater recognition of TCM’s value in more countries and regions. This dual advantage of being “backed by the motherland and connected to the world” allows Hong Kong to play a unique role in the global development of TCM, serving as a strategic bridgehead for its international expansion.
IV. Profound Significance: Benefiting Public Well-being and Supporting the National TCM Development Strategy
The release of Hong Kong’s first TCM Development Blueprint carries multiple layers of profound significance. From a public welfare perspective, its implementation will significantly improve the accessibility and quality of TCM services. Through measures such as enhancing the primary care network, deepening integration between Chinese and Western medicine, and expanding coverage for conditions where TCM excels, citizens will gain more convenient access to high-quality TCM services, alleviating healthcare burdens and improving overall health outcomes.
From an industry perspective, the Blueprint will propel Hong Kong’s TCM sector towards standardized, regulated, and modernized transformation. By refining the talent system, enforcing strict quality controls, and strengthening research and innovation, it will enhance the industry’s overall competitiveness, drive development across the entire industrial chain—including Chinese medicine production, research, and services—and create new economic growth points.
From a national perspective, the high-quality development of TCM in Hong Kong will deeply align with the national TCM development strategy, supporting the construction of the Greater Bay Area as a TCM hub. Hong Kong’s explorations and practices in TCM international promotion and standard-setting will provide valuable experience for the nation’s efforts to globalize TCM, enhancing its international influence and discourse power.
Conclusion: Blueprint Unveiled, Embarking on a New Journey for TCM Development
The release of Hong Kong’s first Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint is a significant milestone in the history of TCM development in the city, marking a crucial step forward in advancing TCM. This Blueprint, forged through multi-stakeholder consensus and balancing public needs with an international vision, charts the course and defines the path for the future of TCM in Hong Kong. With the orderly implementation of its various initiatives, and leveraging Hong Kong’s unique advantages alongside the strong support of the Mainland, Hong Kong is poised to realize its vision of becoming a “bridgehead for TCM’s global reach.” This will enable TCM, a gem of China’s excellent traditional culture, to better benefit the people of Hong Kong and communities worldwide.
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