China to Build Its Largest "Medicine Valley"

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 19, 2001

China to Build Its Largest "Medicine Valley"

China's largest "medicine valley", or life science park, will be built in Jiangsu Province, at a cost of 20 billion yuan (2.42 billion U.S. dollars), sources said Tuesday in Shanghai. The valley, located in Wuxi, a city near Shanghai, will cover an area of nine square kilometers. Core research areas of the bio-tech park will be ecology, life and biology.

Solid Capital Foundation

China will set up the largest "medicine valley" in Jiangsu Province. The valley, located in Wuxi, will involve a cost of 20 billion yuan (US$2.42 billion) and cover an area of nine square kilometers.

Strong Academic Support

Famous colleges and institutes such as Qinghua University and Beijing University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Medical Science will work together in research of bio-pharmaceuticals, modernized traditional Chinese medicine and natural medicine.

Five Zones Divided

Sources said they will divide the park into five zones including a bio-tech industrial zone, a bio-tech incubator and an international medical care zone.

The park, designed by renowned Western designing institutes, will be completed within the next decade. Some 166.7 hectares of the area will be bases for herbal medicine.

China's Herbal Medicine Industry Taking Shape

The healing effect of Chinese herbal medicine has become more and more accepted in the world as an industry. Modern technology has improved people's knowledge on the ingredients and medicinal effects of herbs.

Drugs made of natural plants have fewer side effects, and therefore are more suitable to be developed for health protection. Although herbal medicine has a long history and pharmacological foundation in China, modern research and development technology have only been adopted in the last century to create an industry for the products.

At the end of 1999, there were 107 Chinese herbal medicine producers with the annual sales of 28 varieties of herbal medicine, each amounting to as much as 100 million yuan.

China's Herbal Medicine Industry Taking Shape

Traditional Chinese Medical Clinics Spread to 130 Countries