On August 16, the fifth session of the 17th Standing Committee of the Nanjing Municipal People's Congress adopted a regulation to promote the inheritance and innovation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

The regulation emphasizes building a sustainable support system for TCM development and aims to better fulfill the public need for TCM services from a rule of law perspective.

Nanjing, with a long history of TCM development, leads Jiangsu Province in both the quantity of TCM resources and the quality of service levels.

Since the beginning of legislative research work in March of last year, the Standing Committee of the Nanjing Municipal People's Congress has convened more than 20 symposiums and research studies to introduce the draft regulation.

The regulation highlights Nanjing's unique characteristics in historical TCM practices, talent training, TCM industry development, standards and management. It includes stipulations related to herb farming areas and scales, encourages the rise of modern TCM enterprises and brands, supports technological integration and process innovation, and promotes the standardization and modernization of the TCM production process.

For TCM intellectual property rights, the regulation clearly outlines measures to protect patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and trade secrets. Rights owners are entitled to seek compensation upon infringement of intellectual property rights.

In compliance with legal procedures, the regulation will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress and will take effect after receiving its approval.