Cuba Striving to Introduce Chinese Medicine to Latin America

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 ◆ Cuba Striving to Introduce Chinese Medicine to Latin America

Cuba looks set to introduce traditional Chinese medicines to the virtually virgin market of Latin America, after signing letters of intent with nine Chinese provinces and municipalities.

Under the agreement, provinces like Gansu, Shandong and Sichuan will cooperate with Cuba in such fields as technology for making medicines and the cultivation of medicinal plants.

A Cuban expert with the government's Natural and Traditional Medicine Program, Juana Irene said: "Though traditional Chinese medicine has been in Cuba for 150 years, Cuban hospitals and drugstores normally don't sell it because it hasn't formally entered the Cuban market."

Noting that traditional Chinese medicines are popular in Cuba, Juana Irene said that approximately one million Cubans annually tried acupuncture and Cuba bought traditional medicinal materials from China worth 500 million yuan (60 million U.S. dollars) each year.

The Cuban government encouraged Chinese experts to set up clinics and schools in Cuba, to introduce new herbal medicines and develop traditional Cuban medicine, and cooperate with Cubans in producing traditional medicine, Irene added.

Roberto Vandama, an expert with the Medical Survey and Development Center, said: "Latin American countries traditionally turn out herbal medicines, and there should be very good prospects for China and Latin American nations to cooperate in this field."

Cuba was an ideal stepping stone for traditional Chinese medicine to enter the Latin American markets, as a number of international and regional groups concerned with traditional medicine had bases in Cuba, he noted.

Bian Hongdeng, president of a Chinese investment corporation said he is confident in the Cuban market.

"Latin America with a population of over 400 million is a huge market for Chinese traditional medicine," Bian said.

Moreover, Cuban delegates to China said that they were deeply impressed by China's well-developed production system for traditional medicine.