On the morning of May 17th, the Tengchong Scientists Forum 2025 · Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Chuxiong) Satellite Conference officially opened in Chuxiong. Themed around "Empowering the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) through Technology and Innovating New Industry Pathways," this event brought together wise minds from across the nation's TCM sector, focusing on the path towards modernizing TCM and aiming to comprehensively facilitate the deep integration of technological innovation and the TCM industry, striving to build a modern TCM industrial system and lead TCM undertakings towards new heights.
Present at the opening ceremony were Xu Zhihong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), former president of Peking University, and co-chair of the Tengchong Scientists Forum; Huang Luqi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; Zhang Yaping, academician of CAS and researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS; Chen Xiaoya, academician of CAS and researcher at the Center of Excellence for Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, CAS; Hao Xiaojiang, academician of CAS and researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS; Li Shao, academician of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, tenured professor at Tsinghua University, and director of the Tsinghua Beijing Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences; Wang Xueqin, member of the leading party members' group of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government and director of the Tengchong Scientists Forum Organizing Committee; among others. Gao Jun, secretary of the leading party members' group and director of the Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department, presided over the ceremony.
Wang Xueqin delivered a speech, emphasizing that Yunnan boasts 8,875 species of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, indicating immense potential for the development of the TCM industry. The provincial party committee and government have thoroughly implemented the important directives of President Xi Jinping concerning TCM and his keynote speech during his inspection visit to Yunnan, proposing to cultivate the Chinese medicinal materials industry into a world-class modern industry, with a focus on strengthening top-level design and organizational support, enhancing the deep integration of TCM inheritance and innovation with industrial innovation, and advancing dual-wheel drives of fiscal investment and financial support. The Tengchong Scientists Forum serves as a bridge for the conversion and utilization of resources in strengthening, optimizing, and expanding Yunnan's resource-based industries. Wang hoped that this Chuxiong satellite conference would yield a batch of landmark scientific and industrial achievements in pioneering new modernized TCM industry tracks, jointly writing a new chapter of mutually beneficial cooperation for the modernization of TCM in Yunnan.
Xu Zhihong noted that, fueled by technological innovation, TCM has made breakthroughs in seed industry, breeding and farming, drug research and development, intelligent manufacturing, digital technology, preventive treatment of diseases, and other fields. The deep integration of industry, academia, research, and enterprise is the only way forward for the modernization of TCM. This satellite conference convenes high-end intellectual and industrial resources in Chuxiong, with Xu hoping that attendees would work together to build a collaborative innovation system for the TCM industry encompassing "government, industry, academia, research, and finance." He encouraged scientific researchers to transform resource advantages into competitive and industrial advantages, empowering the development of the TCM industry with technological innovation and generating new productivity in the TCM industry through new methods and technologies.
Gao Jun, who presided over the ceremony, stated that Yunnan is fully cultivating the Chinese medicinal materials industry into a world-class modern industry by implementing the Chinese Medicinal Materials Science and Technology Innovation Project, building a science and technology support system for Chinese medicinal materials, and strengthening the talent pool for Chinese medicinal materials, aiming to establish the country's largest, most diverse, and highest-quality production base for genuine medicinal materials and an international demonstration zone for the industrial development of Chinese medicinal materials. Yunnan strives to optimize its science and technology innovation policy environment, intensify the recruitment of technology-based enterprises and high-end technological talents, support various scientific and technological talents to innovate and start businesses in Yunnan, and offer favorable science and technology policies for introduced leading scientific and technological talents, industrial innovative talents, young talents, and for the achievements and enterprises settled in Yunnan. Gao welcomed friends from all walks of life to actively invest and participate in Yunnan's development and construction.
Zhang Zijian, secretary of the Chuxiong Prefecture Party Committee, gave a speech, highlighting that Chuxiong is the birthplace and main area of inheritance for Yi ethnic medicine, endowed with abundant TCM resources and a solid industrial foundation. The prefecture is writing the Chuxiong answer sheet for the modernization of TCM, focusing on "one herb, one book, and one city." Zhang stated that Chuxiong would seize the opportunity presented by the satellite conference to discuss the cultural inheritance and development of Yi ethnic medicine and deliberate on the grand plan for the development of the Yi ethnic medicine industry. Chuxiong will prioritize ecology, deeply explore resource endowments, and safeguard the "source" of TCM; emphasize innovation, strengthen technological empowerment, and facilitate the deep integration of Yi ethnic medicine with modern technology; and foster cooperation to promote industrial integration, collaborating with scientists and entrepreneurs from around the world to build a new blueprint for healthy China and propel the Yi ethnic medicine and grand health industry towards a RMB 100 billion industrial cluster.
Zhang Wenwang, deputy secretary of the Chuxiong Prefecture Party Committee and prefectural governor, presented the "Introduction to Technology Introduction to Chuxiong, Recruitment, and Investment Attraction" program, showcasing three stories: the modern transformation of the millennia-old Yi medicine classic Qisu Shu, "the most beautiful doctor in China" Zhang Zhidao, and the phoenix-like transformation of Longfa Pharmaceutical, demonstrating Chuxiong's efforts in writing a new chapter of the era amidst the wave of TCM modernization. Zhang revealed that during the conference, Chuxiong Prefecture planned more than 20 key projects such as the "Chuxiong Yi Medicine Wellness Valley" and reached cooperation on 51 projects with companies like Yunnan Baiyao Group, with a total agreed investment of RMB 6.02 billion. Additionally, 611 investment projects were packaged, inviting everyone to visit the "Pharmaceutical Valley of Central Yunnan" and jointly advance the high-quality development of the modernization of Yi medicine.
In the keynote discussions, Academician Huang Luqi focused on the "New Era Shennong Tasting Herbs Initiative," introducing scientific research efforts based on the data from the Fourth National Chinese Materia Medica Resources Census, including the identification of original plants, safety evaluations, functional positioning, and pharmacological studies, and proposed to promote the internationalization of TCM to boost the high-quality development of the modernized TCM industry.
Academician Zhang Yaping shared his research titled "Construction of a New Animal Model System for Social Disorder Diseases and Antidepressant Drug Development," discussing the construction of a new animal model system and the utilization of canine models and technological systems to conduct research on the biological mechanisms of social behavior, as well as new applications of scientific and technological innovations in addressing major diseases and serving life health through technological innovations.
Academician Chen Xiaoya centered his discussion on the theme of "Trait Analysis and Design of Terpenoid Biosynthesis in Plants," analyzing the biosynthetic pathways of active ingredients in Yunnan-specific medicinal plants such as Paris polyphylla, and sharing the research results of rice synthesizing coenzyme Q10 guided by evolutionary biology through gene editing, providing a new perspective for creating new germplasm resources for medicinal materials.
Academician Hao Xiaojiang highlighted the theme of "Innovation in Traditional Medicines Boosting the Development of Yunnan's Biopharmaceutical Industry," introducing the trends in China's innovative drug development, Yunnan's unique conditions for biopharmaceutical research, and emphasizing the layout, progress, accumulated achievements, hot research directions, and new traditional Chinese medicines in Yunnan's natural medicine research. Hao proposed the co-construction, sharing, and collaborative research of Yunnan's biopharmaceutical innovation system and research platforms.
Professor Li Shao focused his keynote on "AI, Network Pharmacology, and Innovative Development of TCM," sharing the exploration and establishment of a new mode of intelligent and precision diagnosis and treatment in TCM by utilizing the holistic view of TCM, comprehensively integrating high-quality data from modern medicine, developing new algorithms, and exploring new pathways for the inheritance and development of TCM.
As an important component of the Tengchong Scientists Forum 2025, the Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Chuxiong) Satellite Conference featured four parallel sessions: Ensuring the Supply and Exploitation of Chinese Medicine Resources, Intelligent Manufacturing and Chinese Medicine Granules, Digital Intelligence in Medicine and Smart Healthcare, and Inheritance and Innovative Development of Yi Ethnic Medicine. These sessions precisely addressed pain points and challenges in industrial development by centering on key areas such as TCM scientific and technological innovation, industrial transformation, and talent cultivation, facilitating in-depth connections between technological breakthroughs and the implementation of achievements. During the conference, Chuxiong Prefecture reached 51 cooperation projects with entities such as Yunnan Baiyao Group and the Li Yuhua team from Northeast Forestry University, with a total agreed investment of RMB 6.02 billion.
The satellite conference was hosted by the Tengchong Scientists Forum Organizing Committee Office, the Chuxiong Prefecture Party Committee, and the Chuxiong Prefecture People's Government, with support from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences' Chinese Medicinal Resources Center. The event was executed by the Yunnan Tengchong Scientists Forum Center.
