Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau led a delegation to attend the 6th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Conference on Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Dongguan today.

The delegation had in-depth exchanges and discussions on Chinese medicine (CM) services, education and industry development with officials from the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Macao Special Administrative Region, Guangdong Province and GBA cities, with a view to fostering collaboration.

Prof Lo said this year's conference, themed "Developing New Quality Productive Forces to Facilitate CM Development in the GBA", echoes the spirit of deepening the reform of the medical and healthcare system, and enhancing the inheritance and innovation development mechanism of CM as highlighted in the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

He pointed out that Hong Kong has been participating in taking forward and deepening the construction of the CM highlands and high-quality development of CM in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

Over the past year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government fully exploited the advantages of CM and integrated Chinese-Western medicine in the healthcare system that has been adopting both Chinese and Western medicine on a dual-track basis, and significantly increased the number of public hospitals and service points providing such services, Prof Lo added.

He also mentioned that the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute (GCMTI) of the Department of Health launched the Digital Herbarium for Chinese Medicines website, which is open for use by members of the public, the industry and international scientific research institutions.

Prof Lo said the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to introduce innovative measures in multiple aspects, including CM healthcare services and inpatient services, CM standards and application of CM data sources, as well as scientific research, in order to develop Hong Kong into a bridgehead for the internationalisation of CM.

In addition, he noted that the year of 2025 will be a notable year for CM development in Hong Kong.

By the end of 2025, the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong and the permanent GCMTI building will have their services commenced in phases.

The CM Development Blueprint will also be released at the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong will host the 7th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Conference on Inheritance, Innovation & Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine next year.

Prof Lo witnessed at the conference the signing of framework agreements on co-operation in CM talent cultivation by the Health Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Health Bureau of the Macao SAR Government with the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province respectively.

The framework agreements aim to strengthen the interaction and collaboration in cultivating CM talent and establish a long-term and efficient collaboration mechanism.

He also witnessed the signing of various agreements on multiple bay area CM co-operation projects, including the Co-operation Framework on GBA CM Visiting Scholars Programme between the Hospital Authority and Guangdong Second Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.