First TCM herb train from Vietnam arrives in China

Customs officers inspect herbs from Vietnam carried by the train in Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 8, 2022. (Photo by Tang Renling/Xinhua)

A train loaded with herbs from Dong Dang in northern Vietnam arrived in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sunday, marking further cooperation in the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The train carried more than 95 tonnes of Jixueteng, or Caulis Spatholobi, worth nearly 480,000 yuan (about 71,400 U.S. dollars), according to the Pingxiang port authority in Guangxi.

The ASEAN is a significant import and export market of TCM products. Cardamom and senna leaves from Indonesia, Caulis Spatholobi from Vietnam, and Scaphium scaphigerum from Thailand are well-received herbs among Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises.

China exports TCM products such as extracts, healthcare foods, and herbal medicines to ASEAN countries.

Guangxi, as a vital gateway for the exchange and cooperation of traditional medicines between China and the ASEAN and a major channel for TCM herb imports, has seen a rapid increase of TCM herbs imported from ASEAN countries in recent years.

Customs data showed that the region imported over 6,809 tonnes of TCM herbs from ASEAN countries in 2021, an increase of 329 percent from a year ago.