On June 2, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium with experts and scholars and delivered an important speech, emphasizing that “the integration of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, as well as the combined use of TCM and Western medicines, was a major feature of this epidemic prevention and control effort and a vivid demonstration of TCM’s commitment to inheriting its essence while upholding fundamental principles and pursuing innovation.” From the strategic perspective of safeguarding people’s lives and health, he fully affirmed TCM’s contributions to epidemic control and made important arrangements for fully leveraging TCM’s unique strengths and roles. We must study and thoroughly understand this guidance, grasp it accurately to inform our practice, and earnestly enhance our sense of responsibility, mission, and urgency, so as to advance the inheritance, innovation, and development of TCM in the new era.

I. Study and thoroughly understand General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on TCM work, and firmly uphold confidence and resolve in the inheritance, innovation, and development of TCM.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions on TCM work, focusing on the contemporary task of promoting the inheritance, innovation, and development of TCM. He has fully affirmed the unique strengths and roles of TCM and provided profound answers to fundamental and long-term questions concerning how to understand TCM in the new era, how to develop TCM, and what kind of TCM should be developed. His guidance has charted the course, outlined the blueprint, and defined the tasks for the inheritance, innovation, and development of TCM in the new era, thereby providing the fundamental principle and practical guide for effectively advancing TCM work.

Gain a profound understanding of the historical status and contemporary value of traditional Chinese medicine. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that traditional Chinese medicine embodies profound philosophical wisdom and the health-and-wellness principles and practical experience accumulated by the Chinese nation over thousands of years; it is a treasured gem of ancient Chinese science and a key to unlocking the treasure house of Chinese civilization. Traditional medicine serves as an important carrier of fine traditional culture and plays a vital role in promoting mutual learning among civilizations and safeguarding public health, with traditional Chinese medicine standing as a distinguished representative. These significant remarks profoundly elucidate the historical value, cultural value, and contemporary relevance of traditional Chinese medicine, providing crucial support for bolstering national and cultural confidence and strengthening our resolve and confidence in inheriting, innovating, and developing this invaluable heritage.

Gain a profound understanding of the goals and tasks for inheriting, innovating, and developing traditional Chinese medicine. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the revitalization and development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are now presented with a golden opportunity—favored by the right timing, advantageous conditions, and popular support. He expressed the hope that the broad ranks of TCM practitioners will strengthen their national confidence, courageously scale the heights of medical science, delve deeply into the essence of the rich treasure trove of TCM, fully leverage TCM’s unique strengths, advance the modernization of TCM, promote its global outreach, and ensure that this precious legacy bequeathed to us by our ancestors is properly inherited, effectively developed, and wisely utilized. These important expositions profoundly highlight the crucial opportunities and priority tasks that must be seized in the inheritance, innovation, and development of TCM; they serve as a powerful driving force for our work on TCM in the new era and constitute the focal points and ultimate objectives for advancing TCM’s development.

Gain a profound understanding of the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in disease prevention and treatment. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must uphold the equal importance of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, promote their mutual complementarity and coordinated development, and give full play to the vital role of TCM in disease prevention, the treatment of major illnesses, and post-illness rehabilitation. We should strive to achieve the creative transformation and innovative development of TCM’s health-and-wellness culture, ensuring that it is seamlessly integrated with modern health concepts and serves the health of the people. Moreover, TCM is characterized by few adverse effects and excellent therapeutic efficacy, and its herbal medicines are relatively affordable. These important statements fully affirm the unique strengths of TCM, profoundly elucidate the relationship between TCM and Western medicine, and underscore the crucial role of TCM in safeguarding public health and advancing the cause of health and wellness with Chinese characteristics.

Gain a profound understanding of the path toward high-quality development of traditional Chinese medicine in the new era. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must follow the inherent laws of TCM development, inherit its essence, uphold its core principles while fostering innovation; establish and improve the legal and regulatory framework for TCM; formulate and refine policies and measures to promote TCM development; strengthen the TCM management system; and put in place evaluation and standard-setting systems that are well-suited to TCM’s development. Moreover, we should adopt an open and inclusive mindset to better integrate traditional and modern medicine, thereby making greater contributions to advancing human health and improving global health governance. These important expositions are grounded in a broad vision for human health, consistently emphasize a problem-oriented and goal-driven approach, and offer a comprehensive and integrated prescription for inheriting and innovating TCM in the new era—one that addresses both symptoms and root causes.

II. Summarize the experience of traditional Chinese medicine in epidemic prevention and control, and leverage its unique advantages and role in preventing, controlling, and treating infectious diseases.

Historically, the Chinese nation has repeatedly faced natural disasters, armed conflicts, and epidemics, yet time and again it has turned peril into safety, with its population steadily growing and its civilization enduring. Traditional Chinese medicine has made a major contribution to this resilience. TCM is a medical science that has been gradually formed and continuously enriched through the long-term practical experience of production and daily life among all ethnic groups in China, as well as through their struggle against disease. In particular, in the fight against epidemics, classic works such as the “Shanghan Zabing Lun,” the “Wenbing Tiaobian,” and the “Wenyi Lun” were produced, giving rise to a systematic and distinctive set of principles, methods, formulas, and medicines for disease prevention and treatment. Researcher Tu Youyou drew inspiration from Ge Hong’s “Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies” and discovered artemisinin, thereby saving the lives of millions worldwide and earning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In recent years, viral respiratory infectious diseases have frequently broken out and spread; TCM has also achieved remarkable results in treating severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and H1N1 influenza, accumulating rich experience, unique theoretical frameworks, technical systems, and classic formulas and prescriptions for responding to emerging and sudden infectious diseases.

Leverage the organizational strengths of the national institutional system to mobilize TCM resources from across the country to provide emergency support to Wuhan, Hubei Province. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have resolutely implemented the important speeches and a series of key instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping, steadfastly obeyed the command of the Central Leading Group for COVID-19 Response and the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, and, in accordance with the deployment of the Central Guidance Team, upheld the overarching principles of “firm confidence, working together in solidarity, scientific prevention and control, and targeted measures.” We have mobilized the entire national traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) system to devote itself wholeheartedly to prevention, control, and treatment. In close coordination with the Hubei Provincial Government, the Wuhan Municipal Government, and relevant departments, we have marshaled the full strength of the industry and engaged deeply throughout the entire process. At the earliest possible moment, we dispatched a national TCM expert team to Wuhan to assess the epidemic situation and provide clinical care, employing the four diagnostic methods, syndrome differentiation and individualized treatment, and adaptation to the three factors—time, place, and person—to understand and manage the disease from the perspectives of TCM theory, methodology, formulas, and herbs, thereby elucidating its etiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutic principles and strategies. Together with the National Health Commission, we issued the third through seventh editions of the National Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines, which feature a distinctive integration of TCM and Western medicine, providing guidance for frontline clinical practice in delivering targeted TCM-based diagnosis and treatment. We also promptly established national TCM medical teams that were deployed to Wuhan to take over entire hospital wards, carry out patient care and clinical research, and explore a TCM-centered, integrated TCM–Western medicine model of diagnosis and treatment. To date, five batches of national TCM medical teams, totaling 773 personnel, have been assembled, taking over eight wards at Jinyintan Hospital, Leishenshan Hospital, and Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated TCM and Western Medicine in Wuhan, as well as the Jiangxia Fangcang Hospital.

Leverage the integrated support of TCM clinical research to continuously optimize diagnostic and treatment protocols and effective formulas and medications. Under the deployment of the Scientific Research Task Force of the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, efforts have been concentrated on clinical treatment with traditional Chinese medicine, screening of effective formulas and medicines, and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy, with all resources devoted to advancing TCM research. Key special projects have been established, including “Research on the Prevention and Treatment of 2019-nCoV with Traditional Chinese Medicine” and “Clinical Research on the Integrated Use of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19,” which have provided strong support for clinical care. At the same time, an emergency research program was launched, guided by the principles of “urgent need, practical applicability, and proven effectiveness” in clinical practice. Adhering to the approach of treating patients while simultaneously observing outcomes and refining protocols, the program has thoroughly explored historical experience in the prevention and treatment of epidemics, screened existing proprietary TCM preparations and classic formulas used to treat plagues, and incorporated them into the national diagnosis and treatment guidelines. For those proprietary TCM preparations and formulas already included in the guidelines, concurrent clinical efficacy observation and scientific research have been conducted, with timely publication of research findings on the “Three Medicines and Three Formulas” and the selection of a number of highly effective prescriptions and formulations.

Leverage the unique strengths and roles of traditional Chinese medicine to enhance prevention, control, and treatment. For individuals under medical observation, preventive and control efforts have been advanced to an earlier stage through the application of traditional Chinese medicine, with the Wuchang model of TCM-based prevention and control being explored and promoted to enhance immunity via TCM herbal decoctions. For mild cases, makeshift hospitals have served as the primary treatment setting, ensuring early and comprehensive administration of TCM to effectively reduce the progression from mild to severe illness. For severe and critically ill patients, a system of integrated TCM–Western medicine consultations and joint rounds has been established, implementing combined TCM–Western medicine treatment and the concurrent use of both TCM and Western medicines to slow the deterioration from severe to critical conditions and maximize therapeutic outcomes. During the post-discharge recovery phase, tailored TCM rehabilitation “packages” have been developed to accelerate physical recovery. Party committees and governments at all levels have upheld the principle of giving equal emphasis to TCM and Western medicine, coordinated resources from both systems, strengthened collaboration between TCM and Western medicine, and ensured the effective functioning of the integrated TCM–Western medicine treatment mechanism, thereby ushering in a new era of TCM–Western medicine integration in the prevention and control of infectious diseases in China. Nationwide, TCM has been involved in the treatment of 92% of confirmed cases, while in Hubei Province the utilization rate of TCM among confirmed cases and its overall efficacy rate have both exceeded 90%, contributing significantly to the major strategic achievements in national epidemic prevention and control.

The Jiangxia Fangcang Hospital in Wuhan was the city’s first makeshift hospital to operate under a traditional Chinese medicine hospital model for clinical treatment and management. In addition to administering herbal decoctions, the hospital’s medical staff taught patients to practice Tai Chi and the Eight Brocades to unblock the meridians and regulate qi and blood, while also employing a range of integrated TCM therapies such as warm moxibustion, ear acupressure with beans, and meridian tapping. Pictured here on February 25, 2020, medical personnel from the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine are leading COVID-19 patients at the Jiangxia Fangcang Hospital in practicing the Eight Brocades. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Bohan.

Leverage the distinctive features of the “China Solution” to advance international exchanges and cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine. Through press conferences and extensive coverage in central mainstream media, more than 30 video exchanges and live broadcasts featuring anti-pandemic experts were organized. These events facilitated the sharing of China’s traditional Chinese medicine–based protocols, formulas, and clinical experience in combating the epidemic, showcased the comprehensive and in-depth involvement of TCM throughout the entire pandemic response, highlighted the remarkable efficacy of TCM in treating COVID-19 patients, and highlighted the moving stories of TCM practitioners who have fought the epidemic, thereby telling compelling narratives about TCM’s role in the fight against the pandemic. In response to specific needs, TCM preparations were donated to relevant countries, and TCM treatment expertise was shared with Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, and others, thereby enhancing international recognition of TCM and strengthening global appreciation for Chinese culture.

This epidemic prevention and control effort represents a vivid embodiment of the spirit of the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting the Inheritance, Innovation, and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine” and the National Conference on TCM, as well as a concrete manifestation of inheriting the essence of TCM while upholding its fundamental principles and fostering innovation. It is also a compelling demonstration of TCM practitioners’ commitment to their original aspiration and mission and their sense of responsibility and accountability. The breadth of TCM’s involvement, the depth of its engagement, and the high level of public attention it has received are all unprecedented. TCM not only effectively alleviated the pressure posed by the early, concentrated outbreak and the shortage of medical resources, but also played a crucial role in increasing cure rates and reducing mortality. As a result, TCM has emerged as a major highlight and distinctive strength of the “China Solution.” Practice has fully demonstrated that the Chinese model of health development, which gives equal emphasis to TCM and Western medicine, possesses significant advantages; the complementary synergy between TCM and Western medicine has been a key factor in securing victory in the battle against the epidemic. Moreover, experience has once again confirmed that the invaluable legacy left by our ancestors has stood the test of time, remaining both effective and practical, as well as economical and easy to implement. The unique strengths and roles of TCM—its simplicity, efficacy, affordability, and accessibility—deserve further preservation and promotion.

III. Promote the complementary and coordinated development of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, thereby contributing to the enhancement of the people’s health and well-being. 　　

In 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the National Conference on Health and Wellness that upholding the equal importance of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine and promoting their mutual complementarity and coordinated development constitute a distinctive strength of China’s health and wellness sector. The Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting the Inheritance, Innovation, and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine stipulate: “Uphold the equal importance of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and forge a Chinese-style model of health and wellness development characterized by the mutual complementarity and coordinated development of the two.” We must thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on TCM work, earnestly carry out the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further adopt a problem-oriented, goal-oriented, and results-oriented approach, pursue both internal and external improvements, and vigorously advance the revitalization and development of TCM while promoting its mutual complementarity and coordinated development with Western medicine.