The sixth meeting of the China-France Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Cooperation Committee was held in Kunming, China, on November 14, 2014. Wang Guoqiang, Vice Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission and Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Gao Feng, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Over 50 representatives from China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the China Food and Drug Administration, the French Academy of Engineering, the French Academy of Sciences, and the French Embassy in China participated in the meeting.
The meeting reviewed the cooperation between the two countries in the field of TCM, shared experiences on TCM-related laws and regulations in China and France, heard progress reports on cooperative projects, and discussed the current status and future recommendations for TCM cooperation in basic and clinical research. Through friendly consultations, both sides agreed that China and France had conducted rich and multi-level exchanges and cooperation in TCM, achieving positive results. They should continue to expand cooperation areas and content, building an open and inclusive cooperation platform under the committee's framework.
Wang Guoqiang pointed out that both Chinese and French cultures are outstanding representatives of human civilization, and TCM is an important carrier of Chinese culture. The two sides should engage in deeper exchanges and communication in the field of TCM culture. François Guinot, the French co-chair of the committee, stated that TCM and Western medicine are complementary medical systems, and the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in TCM would contribute to the development of global medicine.
Established in 2007 under the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Traditional Chinese Medicine" signed by the two governments, the committee is jointly composed of representatives from health, science, and technology agencies of both countries. Its main task is to guide TCM cooperation between the two nations.
