Three Guangdong NPC deputies submitted a proposal last year urging the accelerated development of traditional Chinese medicine in the Bay Area.

Guo Jiao, principal of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Zhou Haibo, head of Qingyuan People's Hospital, and Song Erwei, head of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital at Sun Yat-sen University, proposed formulating a plan to coordinate innovative development of TCM in the region. They also suggested building national labs there.

The proposal got the attention of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which responded that it will continue to support Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao cooperative projects on TCM modernization research and promote the industry's growth.

The National Health Commission will also push forward policies under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement to be implemented in the Bay Area and promote exchanges on high-quality medical and health resources to spur growth of the health industry.

In another proposal jointly submitted by 29 CPPCC National Committee members last year, the political advisers suggested that a new mechanism for intellectual property cooperation in the Bay Area should be established to strengthen regional cooperation in areas such as intellectual property rights protection and the training of professional talent.

In its feedback regarding the proposal, the National Intellectual Property Administration said the mainland attaches high importance to cooperating with Hong Kong and Macao on intellectual property and has been setting up a new mechanism in recent years.

Source: China Daily