Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, led a delegation to attend the World Conference on Traditional Medicine 2026 held in Beijing today (October 17) to have in-depth discussions and exchanges with senior health officials from around the world, as well as experts and academics in the traditional medicine field on issues related to traditional medicine, including legislation, policy and regulation, scientific research, talent cultivation, empowerment of artificial intelligence, as well as promotion of integration of traditional medicine into healthcare service systems.
The conference is jointly organised by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the National Health Commission (NHC), the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in collaboration with the World Health Organization. At the opening ceremony, Professor Lo listened to Premier Li Qiang’s keynote speech. Speaking at the panel discussions of the traditional medicine government forum, Professor Lo shared with attendees the strategic direction for integrating Chinese medicine (CM) into the healthcare system in Hong Kong.
“The HKSAR Government will step up efforts to promote the development of CM. Through the two flagship institutions, The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK) and the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute, Hong Kong will strive to promote pure CM and integrated Chinese-Western medicine services as the ‘Hong Kong model’ in the modern healthcare system. Furthermore, by further advancing local integrated Chinese and Western medicine services and CM talent cultivation, fostering international research collaboration in herb-drug interaction, and establishing rigorous quality standards for Chinese herbal medicines, Hong Kong will fully leverage our role as a bridgehead to provide a high-standard reference model for the world,” he added.
Professor Lo said to Mr Zheng, “With our high-quality healthcare professionals and highly efficient healthcare system, Hong Kong boasts a number of world-leading health indicators, and is among the regions with the longest life expectancies in the world. Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan is interconnected with the National 15th Five-Year Plan. In line with the strategic initiative of accelerating the building of a ‘Healthy China’ of the National 15th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan proposes deepening healthcare system reform, advancing the high-quality development of primary healthcare, and enhancing the resilience of Hong Kong’s healthcare services, thereby building a healthy and vibrant Hong Kong with concerted efforts.”
During the meeting with Mr Huang, Professor Lo provided him with details on the latest progress of the establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation (CMPR), including the establishment of the CMPR by the end of this year, the appointment of Mr Li Zili as the Controller for Medical Products Regulation, and the application for accession as a member of the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. The CMPR will progressively establish a robust drug approval system, aiming for the full implementation of “primary evaluation” mechanism for new drug registration by 2030, thereby becoming an internationally recognised regulatory authority for medical products.
Members of the Hong Kong delegation include the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, and the Controller-designate for Medical Products Regulation, Mr Li Zili, as well as representatives of the Health Bureau, the Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority. The Hospital Chief Executive of CMHHK, Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, also joined the delegation for the conference.
Members of the Hong Kong delegation will continue to attend the conference tomorrow (October 18). Professor Lo will participate in the high-level government forum: “Belt and Road Traditional Chinese Medicine Development Conference (Ministerial Level) Roundtable Dialogue” at the conference. A representative of the DH will also share the latest progress regarding the regulation of Chinese medicines during the parallel session of the conference. Professor Lo and his delegation will return to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon (October 18).