China's Tibet sees robust growth in Tibetan medicine output value

LHASA -- The total output value of Tibetan medicine production enterprises in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region reached 2.52 billion yuan ($365.9 million) in 2022, about twice that of 2012, according to a conference on Tibetan medicine development held on Wednesday.

Tibetan medicine, known as "Sowa Rigpa" in Tibetan, dates back 2,500 years. It has absorbed the influences of traditional Chinese, Indian and Arab medicine and is mainly practiced in Tibet and the Himalayan region.

Over the past decade, Tibetan medicine producers have progressed from manual workshops to standardized factories and companies, said the conference. At present, there are 17 Tibetan medicine production enterprises in the region that meet the national medicine production standards. They produce more than 360 varieties of Tibetan medicine.

The region will establish a national-level Tibetan medicine industrial park, two Tibetan medicine planting technology research bases and a seed and seedling breeding base by 2025, aiming to increase the planting area of Tibetan medicinal herbs to 25,000 mu (1,667 hectares).