On March 27, the 17th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th People's Congress of Anhui Province voted to pass the "Regulations on TCM of Anhui Province". The "Regulations" will come into effect on June 1, 2020, and the "Regulations on the Development of TCM in Anhui Province" promulgated and implemented in 2001 will be repealed at the same time.

The Regulations clarify the responsibilities of the government and improve the management system of TCM. It is stipulated that the people's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate TCM into the national economic and social development plan, establish and improve the TCM management system, service system and security system, and make overall plans to promote the comprehensive development of TCM.

The Regulations require the establishment and improvement of TCM service system. It is clearly stipulated that the proportion of TCM beds in standard general beds in public general hospitals above the county level shall not be less than 5%. At the same time, it is required to give play to the role of TCM in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and public health emergencies, and to establish a coordination mechanism for the participation of TCM in emergency networks and emergency treatment. The implementation of graded diagnosis and treatment system should reflect the characteristics of TCM and give play to its advantages. The Regulations encourage the construction of TCM medical service complexes, support TCM hospitals to lead the establishment of medical service communities, promote the reform of TCM appropriate technology and payment methods for dominant diseases, and increase the reimbursement ratio of TCM medical insurance.

Regarding the improvement of TCM management system, the Regulations provide for the promotion of the development of TCM industry. It is required to formulate a plan for the protection and development of TCM medicinal materials, support the development and utilization of TCM medicinal materials in Anhui Province, establish a traceable quality supervision system of TCM medicinal materials covering the entire species and the whole process, and strengthen the management of TCM decoction pieces and preparations.

In terms of strengthening the training of talents and scientific research in TCM, the Regulations clearly support TCM colleges and universities in carrying out independent enrollment with characteristics of TCM, and opening TCM classes and affiliated schools. It is required to establish special posts in county-level public TCM hospitals and introduce urgently needed high-level TCM talents, as well as establish a talent evaluation system and incentive mechanism in line with the characteristics of TCM positions, improve the pay system of public TCM medical institutions, and implement a preferential policy for promoting the title of TCM physicians serving the community. Support the development of clinical research on the prevention and treatment of major, difficult, rare diseases and new emerging infectious diseases by TCM. Holders of traditional knowledge of TCM can transfer or cooperate in the development of TCM secret recipes, prescriptions, TCM expertise, and scientific and technological achievements in TCM, and enjoy rights such as benefit sharing in accordance with law.

The "Regulations" clarity to select medical academic heritage projects and inheritors and provide necessary conditions for inheritance activities, establish a database and dictionary of TCM protection, and speed up the rescue and excavation of ancient TCM literature, folk technology, secret recipes, TCM identification and processing and other technologies. It is stipulated that the second week of September each year is the province's TCM promotion week.

The Regulations strengthen relevant security measures. The government should provide policy support and guarantees for the development of TCM industry, improve the management of TCM, strengthen the human resource, establish a working evaluation mechanism for TCM, and incorporate it into the government's performance evaluation in accordance with regulations. Establish a sustainable and stable multi-input mechanism for the development of TCM, incorporate the development expenditure of TCM into the fiscal budget of this level, and implement a preferential investment policy for public TCM hospitals.