Int'l conference on traditional Chinese medicine to be held soon

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 ◆ Int'l conference on traditional Chinese medicine to be held soon

The 2002 International Conference on the Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine is set to be held in Chengdu the capital city of southwestern Sichuan province from November 3 to 5.

It is being promoted as the largest and highest-ranking event on traditional Chinese medicine ever held in China.

The three-day conference is expected to draw approximately 4,000 Chinese and foreign scholars and government officials including several Nobel Prize winners and more than 20 Chinese academics.

Major topics will include the government's role in the management, supervision and promotion of traditional Chinese medicine, sustainable utilization of resources, modernization, and the protection of intellectual property rights.

Xu Guanhua, Chinese minister of science and technology, will give a keynote speech. Professor John Upton from the United States will talk about the quality control of herbal medicines. Other topics range from the development of HIV treatments from traditional Chinese medicines to the present state and development of ethnic medicines in western China.

An exhibition displaying various newly-developed medicines extracted from herbal, animal or other materials will also be held.

Traditional Chinese medicine is enjoying a growing reputation worldwide. Statistics show that traditional Chinese medicine organizations have been formed in over 130 countries and regions. In France, Britain, Canada and Australia alone, the number of traditional Chinese medical clinics exceeds 14,000. The number of registered acupuncturists in the United States is more than 12,000.