Analysis on Situation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Development and Protection Strategies in China.

With the worldwide growing interest and commercial value of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industries and products, the protection issue of TCM knowledge is increasingly concerned by Chinese government. Here, we investigated the current situation and trend of TCM development and knowledge protection in China through accessing academic research tools including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, VIP China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP) and Google Scholar, analyzing the latest data released by National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Statistical Yearbook of Chinese Medicine and China Statistical Yearbook. Our results demonstrate that current administration in China is continuing to support TCM development by increasing investment and expanding the scale in TCM research and administration. The increasing attention of Chinese scholars and government has led to laws and regulations issued more densely to strengthen TCM knowledge protection and promote fair use and fast development.