Shandong recently launched a development plan for the traditional Chinese medicine industry in the coming four years.

This is the first special plan for the TCM industry in Shandong, and it will play an important strategic role in promoting the high-quality development of the TCM industry in the province and building a national hub for the TCM industry, according to Zhuang Yan, deputy director of the provincial administration of traditional Chinese medicine.

Shandong is located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which boasts superior natural conditions and is rich in traditional Chinese medicine resources with a long history and culture.

According to the plan, by 2025, the development policy and guarantee system of the TCM industry in the province should be more complete. Ecological and standardized planting and breeding of TCM should be at a certain scale, a high-quality monitoring system should be established, and the commercial circulation of the TCM industry should be formed.

By 2025, the total scale of the province's TCM industry is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion), and by 2030, Shandong should become a national leader in the TCM industry.

Jinan, the provincial capital, will be built into a distribution center for TCM circulation, a base for TCM health tourism and ecological culture and a pilot area for TCM research innovation and development.

Qingdao, a coastal economic powerhouse in Shandong, will build a modern TCM industrial trade cluster, an international TCM clinical practice training base and an international TCM culture experience base.