Research on the Development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine Industry

Hua ZHU　Luling WEI　Fengfeng XIE　Anda WEI

AbstractThe Chinese medicine revitalization plan represented by Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine has been incorporated into China's and Guangxi's overall economic and social development plans， reflecting that The Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry is an important part of China's national medicine， and it is also the representative national medicine industry in Guangxi. In this paper， we investigated the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry and its development status by consulting literature， documents and related materials and visiting relevant departments， systematically analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry， and put forward feasible suggestions， aiming to accelerate the healthy development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry and provide effective data and decision-making basis for China to formulate relevant policies.

Key wordsZhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine; Industry; Development

Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine is a unique national medicine formed and developed by the Zhuang and Yao people in China in the long-term production and life practice. It has distinct national， regional and traditional characteristics and is an important part of our national medicine. With the development of economic globalization and regional economic integration， the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry is facing new opportunities and challenges both at home and abroad. As the region with the largest population of ethnic minorities in China， Guangxi has a large number of Chinese herbal medicines， ethnic medicine and folk and proved prescriptions circulating in ethnic settlements. The ethnic medicine industry represented by Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine has a solid foundation. In recent years， the Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry has grown substantially. However， because it is difficult for the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine to break through the original model， its development speed is slow， and its core competitiveness is not strong. Due to the imperfect medical system and insufficient human resources， the technology research and product development innovation capabilities of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine are weak， and the overall development is still lagging behind. In order to promote the healthy and rapid development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine， in this paper， we conducted in-depth research on the Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry by consulting literature， documents and related materials and visiting relevant units and departments to understand the basic situation of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry development， and analyzed key problems， solutions and measures that restrict the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine and put forward suggestions. This paper provides a reference for accelerating the high-quality development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry， optimizing the industrial structure， and improving the quality standards of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine and medical products， as well as effective data and decision-making basis for the formulation of relevant policies by China.

Basic Situation of the Development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine Industry

Rich resources and obvious advantages

Guangxi is the region with the largest population of ethnic minorities in China， and the Zhuang nationality is the most populous ethnic group in China. Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine has distinctive national， regional and traditional characteristics， and is the most original and innovative. There are 2 200 original species of Zhuang ethnic medicine and 958 original species of Yao medicine in Guangxi. The third national resource census （1987） showed that Guangxi had 4 623 species of traditional Chinese medicines， including 4 064 kinds of botanical drugs， 509 kinds of animal drugs and 50 kinds of mineral drugs， and accounting for about 1/3 of the national medicinal plant resources， and the number of Chinese herbal medicine species ranks second in the country. The results of the fourth national resource census （2018） reported that 5 182 plant species and 798 medicinal animals have been identified in the region. Compared with the results of the third national resource census in Guangxi （4 623 species of traditional Chinese medicine resources）， the number of medicinal plants increased by 1 118， and the number of medicinal animals increased by 289. Among more than 400 kinds of commonly used raw materials for ethnic medicines in China， more than 70 kinds are mainly from Guangxi. Among them， the outputs of more than ten kinds of ethnic medicines in Guangxi account for 50% to 80% of the national total outputs， and the outputs of Siraitia grosvenorii， Spatholobus suberectus， and Sophora subprostrata account for more than 90% of the national outputs. Guangxi is the four major medicinal material producing areas in China. It has China's third largest Chinese medicinal material market （Yulin） and 3 Chinese medicinal material import and export ports.

Continuously improving policies and mechanisms， comprehensively promoting the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry

Guangxi has issued major policies to strengthen overall planning and coordination. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government has established a region leading group for the development of traditional Chinese medicine and ethnic medicine， with the executive vice-chairman as the team leader， and the vice-chairmen in charge and relevant vice-chairmen as the deputy team leaders， with the participation of 25 departments. Guangxi is the first province （autonomous region） in China to protect and utilize wild medicinal plant resources through legislation. In 2014， the Guangxi People's Government issued Measures for the Protection of Wild Medicinal Plant Resources in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region （Government Order No.106）.

The government actively carries out research on quality evaluation and standardization of traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine. The compilation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Zhuang Medicine Quality Standards （Volume I， 2008 Edition; Volume II， 2011 Edition; Volume III， promulgated in December 2017） was completed， containing a total of 490 Zhuang medicinal materials. Guangxi Yao People's Traditional Medicine Quality Standards （Volume 1） recording 144 varieties （including 104 kinds of Laoban medicines） was promulgated and implemented on December 31， 2013. Notes on Guangxi Yao People's Traditional Medicine Quality Standards （Volume 1） was officially published at the end of 2016. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Yao Medicine Quality Standards （Volume II） including a total of 170 varieties was promulgated and implemented on January 1， 2022. It is the first time in the history of the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine that the government formulated and promulgated quality inspection and quality control requirements of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicinal materials in the form of standards， ending the history of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine without classics and legal standards.

Promoting development of traditional Chinese medicine and ethnic medicine preparations in Guangxi medical institutions

Since the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan"， a total of 5 registered medical institutions have been approved for ethnic medicine preparations. Among them， four Zhuang medicine institutions are for Zhuang medicine and one is for Yao medicine. Their approval achieves a breakthrough of "zero" in the registration of preparations in Guangxi ethnic medicine medical institutions. In 2020， Food and Drug Administration of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region implemented emergency approval， and quickly passed the filing of 30 traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao preparations in seven medical institutions. Food and Drug Administration of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has completed a total of 210 approvals for preparations of medical institutions in the region， effectively playing the role of traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao preparations in the treatment of COVID-19[1].

Development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry has entered a new stage

At present， Guangxi has a total of 109 traditional Chinese medicine and ethnic medicine production enterprises， with an annual main business income of 24 billion yuan， accounting for 68.2% of the entire pharmaceutical industry. They have 2 839 Chinese patent medicine approval numbers， involving 1 218 varieties of traditional Chinese medicines， and own well-known national medicine brands such as "Sanjin Pian"， "Zhenggushui"， "Xueshuantong"， "Jinsangzi"， "Huahong Pian" and "Artesunate".

Main Problems and Analysis of the Development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine Industry

Zhuang and Yao medicine has not yet entered the national drug standard and the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China

The national competent department has promulgated national standards for Tibetan medicine， Mongolian medicine and Uyghur medicine， and set up Ministry of Health Drug Standard Tibetan Medicine Volume， Ministry of Health Drug Standard Mongolian Medicine Volume， and Ministry of Health Drug Standard Uyghur Medicine Volume， but there is no Zhuang Medicine Volume. There are 856 varieties of ethnic medicines in the standards issued by Ministry of Health， including 318 Tibetan medicines， 274 Miao medicines， 177 Mongolian medicines， and 87 Uyghur medicines. In 2002， National Medical Products Administration organized an expert review to convert 435 local standards for ethnic medicines into national standards. So far， there are 1 209 national standards for ethnic medicines， including more than 300 kinds of Chinese medicinal materials and nearly 900 kinds of preparations， while none of the above national drug standards have included Zhuang medicine and Yao ethnic medicine. Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China contains Tibetan medicine， Mongolian medicine， Uygur medicine， etc.， but also does not include Zhuang medicine and Yao ethnic medicine. At the national level， there is no approval number for Zhuang medicine and Yao ethnic medicine. Furthermore， National Pharmacopoeia Ethnic Medicine Professional Committee also does not have Zhuang and Yao ethnic Medicine Professional Committee.

The development potential of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry needs to be explored urgently

Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry has a good development trend， but compared with Guizhou Miao medicine industry， Inner Mongolia Mongolian medicine， Tibet Tibetan medicine， Xinjiang Uygur medicine， and Yunnan Dai medicine， there is a gap with the predetermined target. For example， Guangxi originally set the target output value of traditional Chinese medicine ethnic medicine industry （manufacturing） to be 23 billion in 2015， 60 billion in 2020， and the output value of the entire industry chain to be 100 billion， but at present， the main business income of Guangxi's traditional Chinese medicine ethnic medicine industry is 24 billion， which is 27.46% less than that of Guizhou （33.084 billion yuan）. If the current development speed is used， it will be difficult for the economic index of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry to reach the predetermined target. At present， the development of Guangxi's ethnic medicine manufacturing industry is lagging behind. So far， there is no "national brand" Zhuang ethnic medicine or Zhuang ethnic medicinal material in Guangxi. The functions and main therapeutic effects of many ethnic medicines have not been understood by the market， and the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry has been greatly restricted.

Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine theory， cultural inheritance and clinical efficacy evaluation and technical specifications need to be improved

The theory and technology of clinical application of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine still need to be broken through. Taking Zhuang ethnic medicine research as an example， after nearly half a century of large-scale inheritance of ethnic medicine culture and census and excavation of ancient books， the theory of Zhuang ethnic medicine has been formed， and Zhuang medicine has been recognized by the state. However， the clinical application of Zhuang ethnic medicine lacks traditional written records in the history， and the relevant norms and standards for the clinical application of Zhuang ethnic medicine under the guidance of Zhuang ethnic medicine theory have not yet risen to the national industry level. These shortcomings are the main technical constraints for the state to approve Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine for marketing and incorporate them into the national drug standard system.

The resource advantage of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine has not been fully utilized

The scale of industry does not match the scale of resources， and resource advantages have not been fully utilized. The planting area of medicinal materials for Guangxi traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine is 2.18 million mu， which is 62% less than that of Guizhou （5.79 million mu）. The advantageous resources have not been fully utilized， and the transformation of resource advantages to industrial advantages is restricted.

Zhuang and Yao medicine lacks medical talents

There is a lack of local high-level talents， discipline leaders and enterprise management talents of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine. The understanding of the particularity and importance of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine talents is insufficient， and the support is insufficient. Precise support for Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine talents needs to be strengthened. The research results of professional talents are not closely integrated with the industry. The undergraduate major of Zhuang and Yao medicine has not been set up yet.

Suggestions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine Industry

Make every effort to strive for Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine to enter the national drug standard and Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China

We should implement the spirit of the State Council's "implement the Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine revitalization plan and establish a quality standard system" （Guo Fa [2009] No.42）， and regard "enter the national standard， enter the Pharmacopoeia， and clarify the identity" as the current top priority in Guangxi to accelerate the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry. We can fully learn from the successful experience of Tibetan medicine， Uyghur medicine， Mongolian medicine and other ethnic medicines entering Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China， formulate a work plan， and list the "task list" and "schedule" for Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine to enter the Chinese pharmacopoeia as an ethnic medicine.

Promote talent building

It is necessary to strengthen the characteristic education of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine. It is recommended to set up Zhuang ethnic medicine， Yao ethnic medicine， and Yao medicine majors， and simultaneously run well the existing Zhuang ethnic medicine undergraduate major. We should formulate and implement a training plan for the identification of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine inheritors， and build a continuing education and training base. The training of grass-roots talents should be strengthened， and the employment of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine talents should be promoted. We should support the construction of doctoral programs， focusing on supporting the construction of doctoral programs in the existing first-level disciplines of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy and the construction of doctoral programs in the second-level discipline of ethnic medicine. We should actively strive to set up a doctoral degree authorization point for the first-level discipline of Chinese pharmacy， and cultivate more local high-level talents of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine.

It is necessary to implement Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine talent projects. It is recommended to formulate and issue a Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine talent development plan， and establish a "Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine expert （inheritance talent） library". Taking Zhuang Medicine College and Yao Medicine College of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine as the core teaching bases， we can adopt various methods such as college education， teacher education， continuing education and lifelong education to strengthen the training of leaders in Zhuang medicine and Yao medicine. The selection of "Zhuang doctors， Yao doctor masters"， "famous （old） Zhuang doctors， Yao doctors" and "basic-level famous Zhuang doctors， Yao doctors" can be carried out to establish a group of famous Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine expert academic research laboratories， so as to speed up talent training[2].

Increase the total amount of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine services and comprehensively enhance the development capacity of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry

It is necessary to establish a systematic Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry development concept. The coordination and cooperation can be strengthened to promote the systematic development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry.

It is necessary to increase the total amount of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medical services. We should promote the construction of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medical service system and the standardization construction of county-level key Zhuang and Yao ethnic medical hospitals. We should focus on increasing the support for the four municipal-level Zhuang and Yao ethnic medical hospitals in Baise， Hechi， Laibin and Chongzuo and 28 counties where ethnic minorities live. The construction of traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine health care services should be accelerated. Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine culture and health tourism can be developed. A demonstration base for publicity and education of traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine culture at the autonomous region， city and county levels should be built. We should also strengthen supervision and assessment.

It is necessary to promote financial support. In accordance with the principles of government guidance， market operation， professional management and rolling development， a biomedicine （Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine） industry investment fund can be established， and cities and counties （cities， districts） with relatively concentrated Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry can be set up with established regional Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry development funds to support the development of small and medium-sized Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine enterprises.

The informatization of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine should be strengthened. We should implement Internet+Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine informatization， and establish an information database of traditional Chinese medicine Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry. An online technology trading platform can be established. We should promote "Internet+" Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine and medical treatment.

It is necessary to build a high-level scientific research platform for Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine， and promote the modernization and internationalization of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine[3]. We should adhere to the sustainable development of "modern Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine， technological Zhuang and Yao medicine， cultural Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine， and ecological Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine". Taking Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine as the starting point， to serve "The Belt and Road Initiative" strategy， we should vigorously develop the ASEAN market， and promote cooperation and exchanges with ASEAN countries in traditional medicine[4].

Conclusions

The healthy development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry plays an important role in promoting the development of national medicine in China， and also plays an important role in promoting the development of Guangxi's social economy， medical culture， and ethnic heritage. We must believe that， with the strong support of the party and governments at all levels， we can firmly grasp the tide of the development of the traditional Chinese medicine and ethnic medicine industry， give full play to the resource advantages of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine， effectively formulate relevant policies and development plans， and do a good job in taking the road of high-quality development of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry. We should focus on fundamentally solving the key problems that restrict the development of Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry， and achieve the high-level development goal of Guangxi Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry， so that Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine as an excellent national medical treasure can be carried forward and make due contributions to promoting the development of Chinese national medicine and building a healthy China.

References

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[2] ZHU H. Outline of the effectiveness of Zhuang Yao Ethnic Medicine Collaborative Innovation Center[J]. Research of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine， 2018（1）： 13-18， 133-134. （in Chinese）.

[3] ZHU H. Build a high-level Zhuang and Yao medicine research platform， promote the high-quality development of Zhuang and Yao medicine Business and industry[J]. Research of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine， 2021（1）： 11-12. （in Chinese）.

[4] ZHU H. Focus on Zhuang and Yao ethnic medicine industry and make new breakthroughs in China： Asean traditional medical cooperation[J]. Research of Zhuang and Yao Ethnic Medicine， 2018（2）： 7-8. （in Chinese）.

Editor： Yingzhi GUANG Proofreader： Xinxiu ZHU