In the first half of the year, the trade of traditional Chinese medicine was led by the extract of a unique plant

From January to June 2015, influenced by the unfavorable foreign trade situation of "weak external demand and sluggish domestic demand", the growth rate of China's Pharmaceutical Foreign Trade slightly dropped compared with 2014, with the import and export volume of US $50.04 billion, a year-on-year growth of 6.4%, lower than the growth rate of 9.3% in 2014 In the first half of the year, the overall performance of traditional Chinese medicine trade was outstanding, with the import and export volume of US $2.43 billion, up 10.9% year-on-year, higher than the growth rate of 2.1% in 2014 Among them, the export volume was US $1.93 billion, up 13.5% year on year, and the import volume was US $510 million, up 2.3% year on year Plant extracts led the way from January to June 2015 In addition to traditional Chinese medicine materials, the export of all kinds of traditional Chinese medicine commodities showed an increasing trend The export of plant extracts achieved a year-on-year growth of 29.6%, becoming the largest increase in all pharmaceutical products The substantial growth of plant extracts is mainly due to the increase of traditional market demand and the substantial growth of new essential oil products export From January to June, the export of plant extracts reached 1.09 billion US dollars, accounting for 56.8% of the export of traditional Chinese medicine The export volume of health care products and Chinese patent medicines was 140 million US dollars, up 13.0% and 5.7% year on year, both maintaining a stable situation However, the export growth of health care products and Chinese patent medicine is due to the increase of price The export volume of health care products and Chinese patent medicine has declined, down 7.6% and 3.0% year on year The main reason is that the traditional market is still the main driving force for the growth of TCM export From January to June 2015, Chinese traditional medicine was exported to 154 countries and regions Asia is still the main market for Chinese traditional medicine export The export volume of Chinese traditional medicine to Asian countries and regions reached 1.16 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.5% year on year, accounting for 60.7% of the export volume of Chinese traditional medicine Among them, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia are the main target markets Hong Kong, China is still the first market for Chinese medicine exports from the mainland, with exports of US $300 million, down 5.3% year-on-year The United States is the second and most important market for TCM export In recent years, it has maintained a high growth rate From January to June 2015, China's export of traditional Chinese medicine to the United States amounted to US $270 million, an increase of 17.2% year on year, accounting for 14.1% of China's export of traditional Chinese medicine, and the export of traditional Chinese medicine products to the United States was mainly plant extracts, accounting for 78.2% The import of traditional Chinese medicine products recovered From January to June 2015, the import of traditional Chinese medicine products reached US $510 million, an increase of 2.3% year on year, and the export volume changed from a drop to a rise (the import of traditional Chinese medicine fell by 16.8% year on year in 2014) However, only the import of plant extracts increased significantly, while other products continued to decline significantly Among them, the import of plant extracts reached US $210 million, a year-on-year increase of 48.0% The main imported varieties were essential oil products such as peppermint oil and liquorice products Imports of Chinese patent medicine reached US $130 million, down 19.2% year on year Imports of health care products reached US $71.06 million, down 19.3% year on year The import of traditional Chinese medicine reached US $96.11 million, down 9.8% year on year The main reason for the decline in the import of traditional Chinese medicine is that the volume and price of bulk varieties fall together For example, American ginseng imported 291 tons in the first half of the year, down 21.0% year-on-year, and the price dropped 14.0% year-on-year; Glycyrrhiza imported 8772 tons, down 38.9% year-on-year, and the price dropped 8.1% year-on-year Market outlook in the second half of the year "Flight inspection" is almost the most popular topic in the first half of 2015 CFDA has issued 22 "flight inspection" notices, involving 20 notices of traditional Chinese medicine The industry of Chinese herbal pieces is the most affected, involving not only several professional markets of traditional Chinese medicine, but also more than 50 GMP certificates of enterprises of Chinese herbal pieces A large number of enterprises related to Ginkgo biloba extract have been investigated, including Including many export enterprises of plant extracts Not only in China, but also in the first half of this year, the attorney general's office of New York State, in the United States, sent a letter to GNC, Walgreens, Walmart and target, four major retailers of nutrition products, saying that some of the health products they sold did not contain the ingredients claimed by the labels, and even plant additives that were potentially dangerous to allergic people Ask them to dismount immediately Although the two sides later reached an agreement to resume the product on the market, the safety risks of dietary supplements and the relative inadequacy of the regulatory system of dietary supplements in the United States caused widespread public concern Under the unfavorable domestic and foreign trade environment as a whole, foreign trade of traditional Chinese medicine in the first half of the year still achieved good results It is expected that foreign trade of traditional Chinese medicine in the second half of the year will maintain rapid development, and new policies in medicine are likely to bring benefits to the industrial development The new food safety law implements or activates great health On October 1 this year, the new "food safety law" will be promulgated, which will clarify the legal status of health food, and clarify the management measures for the combination of health food registration and filing According to the first mock exam of the registration and record keeping of health foods (Draft), after October 1st, the management method of health food increased the filing system management method on the basis of the original registration system The filing products will cover minerals, vitamins and other nutrients as well as health food that has been included in the health food raw material catalog There is no doubt that the food safety law will greatly activate the existing market of health care products, and at the same time, it means that enterprises will take greater responsibility In the future, homogenization competition will become increasingly fierce, and health care products will truly enter the era of brand competition "National standard" regulates the market of plant extracts As a major export category of traditional Chinese medicine products, the lack of plant extract standards is not only criticized, but also seriously limited the healthy and vigorous development of the industry Since the first batch of international business standards for plant extracts was formulated and issued by China Medical Insurance chamber of Commerce in 2013, it has played a very good role in promoting the development of the industry At present, many commodity inspection departments have adopted this standard as the test basis In 2015, the second batch of International business standards for plant extracts has been launched, covering green tea, citrus young fruit, green coffee beans, grape seeds Epimedium, white peony, rutin, fucoidan, Ganoderma lucidum, Pueraria, angelica and other extracts At the same time, in 2015, China Medical Insurance chamber of Commerce launched a comprehensive cooperation with the United States Pharmacopoeia Commission Both sides jointly launched the mutual recognition procedure of standards, and selected the mutual recognition standard to edit the monograph on standards of plant extracts This landmark cooperation will certainly open a new journey for Chinese plant extracts to enter the international market GEP certification promotes the healthy development of the industry In order to lead the healthy and orderly development of the industry and help high-quality enterprises to enhance their own enterprise and brand value, China Medical Insurance chamber of Commerce, together with the National Health Foundation of the United States (NSF), jointly carried out the "quality supplier of plant extracts" certification (referred to as GEP certification) The certification work draws lessons from the NSF certification field, and at the same time increases the industry characteristics and credit evaluation certification The comprehensive GEP certification will be more suitable for the plant extract industry, and can effectively distinguish high-quality plant extract suppliers.