Pingyao has invested heavily in its TCM industry

For the past 10 years Pingyao has invested heavily in its traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry, and has watched it grow into an area of great innovation and cooperation.

In 2006, the amount of land in Pingyao dedicated to growing traditional Chinese medicine was a relatively small two million square meters. However, by 2015, Pingyao was growing on 40 million square meters of land, producing 5,000 tons of TCM worth more than 138 million yuan ($20.69 million).

The county government is not satisfied with those impressive numbers, and is instead pushing forward for more growth and innovation. Pingyao is improving its industrial chain composed of planting, processing, selling and tourism.

It has established 12 cooperatives and planting associations to help farmers improve the output and quality of traditional Chinese medicine through technical and financial support.

In the processing sector, a factory jointly built by Shanxi Yubing Pharmaceutical and Pingyao Jinwei Cooperative was built to ensure the quality and safety of TCM as well as increase its added value.

Yubing and Jinwei jointly invested 30 million yuan in building a wholesale market in 2014 which has attracted eight large pharmaceutical distributors.

On the innovation front, e-commerce led by Yubing has revolutionized sales of medicines, offering customers more flexibility in the way they shop for TCM. In 2015, the turnover of TCM through e-business reached 50 million yuan.

The local authority is also pushing forward with plans to boost TCM-related tourism. A tourism hotspot in Shanxi province, Pingyao has opened several planting bases and a theme park near Pingyao ancient city to the public for popularizing TCM culture and healthcare featuring TCM.

(chinadaily.com.cn)