Beijing Proposal Promotes Herbal Medicine to Improve Access to Healthcare

October 19: The 2026 World Conference on Traditional Medicine recently concluded in Beijing. The conference saw the establishment of the Global Traditional Medicine Alliance, the first international non-governmental science and technology organisation in the traditional medicine sector. A total of 117 institutions and individuals from 19 countries and regions joined the alliance.

The conference also released the Beijing Proposal on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Traditional Medicinal Plant Resources. In addition, it launched the programme “Shennong’s Hundred Herbs Exploration in the New Era.”

These initiatives may be unfamiliar to many readers in Bangladesh. However, the issue behind them is directly relevant to millions of people in the country. In a nation of nearly 180 million people, access to modern healthcare remains uneven between urban and rural areas. This raises an important question: Can traditional medicine help make healthcare more accessible and affordable?

A few days before the conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to build a healthcare system that is “balanced, universal, high-quality and efficient” at a national health and healthcare conference. He also said that preventing disease before it occurs is the most cost-effective and effective health strategy. He called for improvements in the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine and stronger integration of Chinese and Western medical practices.

These remarks show that China views traditional medicine not merely as a cultural heritage but also as a potential way to expand healthcare access. Therefore, the conference focused not only on introducing Chinese medical practices to other countries but also on how they could be made safe, affordable, accessible and scientifically verifiable within different healthcare systems.

Why It Matters for Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a long history of traditional and alternative medical practices, including Unani, Ayurveda and homeopathy. Many people rely on these systems for their healthcare needs. In July this year, Bangladesh’s Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister Zahid Hossain said that a diverse healthcare system was necessary to meet the needs of nearly 180 million people, as no single medical system could meet everyone’s needs. He called for strengthening public confidence in Unani, Ayurveda and homeopathy alongside modern medicine.

This means Bangladesh does not need to build its traditional medicine sector from scratch. The bigger challenge is to make existing practices safer, better organised and more effectively integrated into primary healthcare.

China’s experience offers lessons in this regard. Over the past two decades, the country has focused on integrating traditional medicine into its healthcare system, expanding research and promoting international cooperation to exchange knowledge and experience.

Opportunities for Complementary Healthcare

One potential contribution of traditional Chinese medicine is to provide alternative or complementary care for certain health conditions. Acupuncture and tuina, a traditional Chinese massage technique, are used in areas such as pain management and rehabilitation.

However, the effectiveness of these methods may vary depending on the condition. Their use must therefore be guided by proper training, medical assessment and scientific evidence. Interest in Chinese medical practices is already visible in Bangladesh. In May this year, a delegation from a major Chinese hospital visited Suoshi Healthcare Limited in Dhaka. The delegation toured its acupuncture and physiotherapy centres and discussed the potential for integrating Chinese and Western medicine and transferring medical technologies.

In June, Zubaida Rahman, wife of Bangladesh’s prime minister, visited Guang’anmen Hospital and enquired about the use of traditional Chinese medicine in treating chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

These exchanges suggest that discussions about traditional Chinese medicine are moving beyond cultural awareness towards practical applications in healthcare. However, patient safety, treatment effectiveness and proper integration with modern medicine must remain the top priorities if these efforts are to deliver benefits.

Industry Development and Standardisation

Bangladesh is an important producer of generic medicines globally. The annual production value of its pharmaceutical industry has reached Tk 3 billion, and its medicines are exported to nearly 160 countries. However, Bangladesh’s share of the global market for traditional herbal and alternative medicine products remains negligible. Fragmented regulation and quality gaps are long-standing weaknesses.

China’s experience in quality control for medicinal ingredients, standardising traditional formulations and establishing quality systems for formula granules could offer a technical model for modernising Bangladesh’s traditional medicine sector.

According to the information provided, bilateral trade between China and Bangladesh in medical supplies and pharmaceutical products reached US$483 million in the first three quarters of 2025, up 9.2 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Chinese medicinal ingredients and materials used to prepare herbal decoctions were among the significant products traded.

If both countries can expand their cooperation beyond trade to include joint standard-setting and local production, Bangladesh’s traditional herbal industry could move from a situation in which it has a rich heritage but a limited industrial base to one built on recognised standards and established brands.

Connecting People and Institutions

Healthcare ultimately depends on the skills of doctors, health workers, researchers and institutions. Training, experience-sharing and joint medical initiatives could therefore become important foundations for China-Bangladesh cooperation.

China’s Yunnan Province has repeatedly organised study visits and training programmes for Bangladeshi medical professionals. Participants have expressed interest in applying their experience in hospital management and new medical technologies in Bangladesh.

Other initiatives, including a joint China-Bangladesh cardiovascular treatment centre and joint surgical clinics, have also expanded medical cooperation between the two countries. Bangladeshi doctors have expressed interest in extending such joint initiatives to more medical specialities.

Direct contact between doctors and researchers is equally important in traditional medicine. After visiting a Chinese hospital, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Cultural Affairs said that traditional Chinese medicine had potential applications in Bangladesh. He also pledged to promote communication and cooperation between the two countries in this field after returning home.

If Bangladeshi doctors receive the necessary training to apply Chinese medical practices in appropriate cases, while researchers and regulatory bodies from both countries jointly assess treatment standards and safety, cooperation could move beyond formal meetings and agreements to benefit people in their daily lives.

President Xi Jinping also said in his speech, “Health for all is the common aspiration of humanity,” and “cooperation in health and medical care under the Belt and Road Initiative must be deepened.” For Bangladesh, the significance of these statements will depend on how effectively they translate into practical healthcare services. Safe and appropriate acupuncture services at a medical centre in Dhaka, improved quality-control systems in Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical industry, and joint treatment efforts by doctors from both countries could all represent tangible results of such cooperation.

This is where the Beijing conference becomes significant. It is not simply an effort to introduce one country’s medical practices to others. It also provides an international platform to discuss how traditional knowledge can be linked with modern research, quality control and public healthcare systems.

Both Bangladesh and China have long histories of traditional medicine. If their shared experience can be turned into safe and effective healthcare, cooperation could do more than increase pharmaceutical trade. It could also expand research, training and access to medical services.

Ultimately, the most lasting success of the “Health Silk Road” will come when the benefits of international cooperation reach ordinary people and more people gain access to quality, affordable and accessible healthcare.

The writer is a journalist with CMG Bangla, Beijing.