Officials Speak Highly on Sino-Singapore Cooperation in TCMSenior health officials from China and Singapore spoke highly Tuesday on the cooperation between China and Singapore in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) field, affirming that cooperation plans are proceeding very well and the Sino-Singapore cooperation in TCM hold out a good and promising prospect for the health of people both inside and outside the two countries.Chinese Vice Minister for Health Zhu Qingsheng and Singapore Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health Chan Soon Sen respectively made the point at the first meeting of the Sino-Singapore Committee on TCM Cooperation which began here Tuesday. Zhu said that the Sino-Singapore cooperation in TCM has been won in the sincere and intimidate spirit and in the practical and fruitful manner. Chan said that since the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding and a Plan of Cooperation on TCM between the Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) and China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM) in July 1999, both parties have proceeded to work together in the spirit of cooperation and have started mutual exchange of information and expertise on matters pertaining to the teaching, practice and regulation of TCM and its practitioners. He expressed his belief that the Sino-Singapore cooperation will bring TCM to the whole world. The MOU was signed in Beijing 13 month ago with an aim to strengthen bilateral coordination, liaison and cooperation in TCM between China and Singapore. After the signing of the MOU, SATCM and MOH jointly set up a Sino-Singapore Committee on TCM Cooperation to formulate cooperation plans, SATCM facilitated a study visit by Singapore MOH officials to China and a joint delegation of Singapore MOH officials and Singapore TCM Organizations Coordinating Committee representatives to China to study training, registration and control of TCM practitioners in China. In February and March, SATCM also sent two TCM experts as consultants to MOH to help set up systems to appraise and examine Singapore acupuncturists in preparation for their registration. In March, a delegation from Sichuan province, China, visited Singapore to participate in academic exchange and signed two letters of intent on exchange and cooperation to develop and promote TCM. The ongoing meeting of the Sino-Singapore Committee on TCM is designed to accelerate and further strengthen bilateral cooperation in TCM between China and Singapore and make arrangement for Singapore to tap on SATCM's experience in the planning and implementation of qualifying examinations, examination syllabi and qualifications for the registration of TCM practitioners. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |