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Big Health Industry
  • Macao strives to boost the development of the big health industry that takes research, development and manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as its core.
  • As early as in 1999, the SAR Government included TCM in the public healthcare system, thereby enlarging the coverage of TCM throughout the public healthcare services.
  • The “State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine” was established in Macao in 2011, with the aim of developing research on TCM quality and innovation, promoting the standardisation and internationalisation of TCM and the commercialisation of research results.
  • The Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao(hereinafter referred to as “Industrial Park”) actively introduces and cultivates key enterprises and keeps gathering TCM industries therein. As of the end of October 2022, a total of 230 enterprises registered in the Industrial Park(including 60 Macao enterprises) and 91 enterprises signed contracts to join the Industrial Park (including 34 Macao enterprises), with a number of well-known pharmaceutical enterprises from the Mainland have been introduced into the Industrial Park. In the meantime, a certain number of Macao enterprises have been cultivated. These companies mainly engage in TCM, food supplements, medical equipment, medical services, biomedicine and technology services. Various industries are now gathering in the Industrial Park.
  • The Industrial Park continues to promote the internationalisation of TCM through the “introduction of medicine with medical treatment” model and give play to the role of Macao as Platform between China and PSCs. Supported by the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Services Export Bases, the Industrial Park has been engaged in international registration and trade of TCM products with Portuguese-speaking Countries as gateway, and assisting a number of enterprises to obtain registration approval for Chinese patent medicine products in Mozambique, Brazil and other regions.
  • In addition, relying on platforms such as the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Policy and Technology Research Centre” and the “Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparation Centre of Guangdong-Macao Medical Institutions”, the Industrial Park utilises the policy advantages of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area andthe Guangdong-Macao Intensive Co-operation Zone in Hengqin, to focus on providing technical support and consultation services in TCM research and development, pilot test and production, registration and application of TCM products, and strive for more Chinese medicine products to be listed in Macao, while assisting local enterprises to gradually enter the Mainland market with traditional Chinese patent medicine for external use and other products.
  • The Economic and Technological Development Bureaushall, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, properly carry out industrial licensing for the manufacture of big health and TCM products, arrange cross-departmental work meetings for relevant enterprises, streamline the approval procedure and provide enterprises with more convenient and efficient services, in order to help enterprises reduce the costs, thereby speeding up the development of production businesses.
  • In December 2021, the Macau Institute for Translational Medicine and Innovation was established with the SAR government’s facilitation. At present, the institute is following up the transformation of several TCM projects and assisting them in launching into the market.
  • The Law on Pharmaceutical Activities in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Registration of Proprietary Chinese Medicines, which was put into force on 1 January 2022, marks a milestone in Macao’s big health and TCM industry development, which facilitates the registration and manufacturing of more quality TCM products in Macao. The Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau was also founded on the same day. It is responsible for the research, management, co-ordination and implementation of policies related to pharmaceutical administration in the Macao SAR.