Hidden worries behind the export prosperity of China's plant extract industry

With the increasing voice of "returning to nature" in the world, as well as the social development and improvement of living standards, people's attention to diseases has shifted from simple treatment to focus on disease prevention Under the influence of the new medical model, natural health food is favored Since the end of 1990s, plant extracts have attracted more and more attention from the pharmaceutical and food industry In recent years, the plant extract industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in China, with an annual production growth rate of more than 15% and an export growth rate of more than 20% According to customs statistics, in the first half of 2006, China exported 16500 tons of plant extracts, totaling 226 million US dollars For the first time, the export volume exceeded that of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal pieces, becoming the largest export product of traditional Chinese medicine, accounting for 44.62% of the total export volume of traditional Chinese medicine, with a year-on-year growth of 45.76% When the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine is confronted with various barriers, the emergence of plant extracts makes the export of traditional Chinese medicine reappear the dawn But the problems behind the prosperity of the industry can not be ignored 1 Over cutting and gradual depletion of natural resources At present, the technical equipment level of the domestic plant extract industry is uneven, high-tech enterprises and workshop factories coexist, decentralized extraction results in a great waste of industrial resources and lack of planning for plant resources cutting, does not consider the long-term recycling of plants, destructive mining; in addition, foreign enterprises take low-cost plunder of Chinese plant medicine resources Driven by interests, enterprises seriously destroy natural resources, such as Taxus in Yunnan, liquorice and Ephedra in Gansu, etc 2 Two way pollution, the environment and the market are affected On the one hand, the enterprises have serious air and water pollution problems in the production process; on the other hand, pesticide and heavy metal residues have affected the entry of Chinese plant extract products into the international market, especially the EU market 3 The industrial form is in disorder, the industrial products are not concentrated, the industry develops rapidly, the entry threshold is too low, and a large number of enterprises flow in without restriction, resulting in a large number of participating enterprises, relatively small scale, uneven quality and chaotic price standards No matter how small the scale of domestic plant extraction enterprises, there are generally more than 20 varieties, but there are few enterprises with core varieties, and few companies with large scale and independent R & D capabilities 4 The R & D is weak, the product technology content is low, most enterprises do not have the market R & D and technology R & D strength, and they are not very clear about how to choose, blindly follow the trend, and the product is single; at the same time, they are lack of deep processing technology, backward experimental and testing equipment, enterprises have no core products, and the follow-up development is weak How to reduce the damage to resources and environment and change the image of low quality and low price in the world has become a problem that Chinese plant extract industry has to face On the one hand, it needs the consciousness of enterprises, on the other hand, it needs the restriction of policies, and the trade association should also make some contributions: 1 The government should focus on cultivating the industry leader enterprises, strengthen the support in the financial and tax policies, and coordinate the relationship between industrial concentration and recycling 2 Establish the industry standard of plant extracts in line with international standards According to international standards, establish a complete and standardized industry quality standard system for each extract variety, conduct animal toxicology test, and clarify the metabolism mechanism, especially control the heavy metal content, pesticide residue and microbial limit of the product 3 Moderately develop resources and curb excessive mining For Glycyrrhiza and Taxus, which are closely related to ecology and species safety, the state must issue strict laws and regulations, start with raw materials, selectively and systematically mine them When necessary, it can levy resource tax on acquisition and processing enterprises, effectively regulate market supply, and then affect international market prices At the same time, encourage production enterprises to establish raw material bases, guide enterprises to increase innovation and develop substitutes 4 Establish brand awareness Increase R & D efforts, cultivate excellent varieties, establish corporate brand and product brand The domestic plant extract enterprises have a strong regional concentration, and at the same time of "resource sharing", they also have a "good fortune and bad fortune" relationship 5 The industry association should give full play to the function of industry spokesperson, coordinate the interests of all parties, provide open and transparent information platform for member units, help, coach and even represent enterprises to participate in international negotiations, safeguard the overall interests of the industry and even the country, and end the situation that Chinese enterprises are fighting for each other, scattering sand and competing to reduce prices, so that foreign enterprises can enjoy the benefits.