The number of TCM patent applications in China has been on the rise in recent years.

According to statistics from the State Intellectual Property Office, the office received 3,247 applications in 2001. The number rose to 3,865 in 2002 and 4,030 in 2003.

Chinese companies are the majority of the applicants, while many foreign applicants with more advanced techniques are also coming to inquire about patents, according to Gu Xiaoli, an official with the office.

Meanwhile, more and more foreign companies are applying for TCM patents in China, especially those from Japan and the Republic of Korea, she said.

However, the number of Chinese companies applying for TCM patents abroad is very limited. Gu describes such applications as "rare."

That may have something to do with the strategy of Chinese companies expanding into overseas markets has not yet been listed on their agenda, Gu said.

The State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, together with the ministries of education and culture, is making preparations for the recognition of TCM as a world intangible heritage entity.

"The move is for the better protection and development of our traditional heritage," said Shen Zhixiang, director of the Department of International Co-operation with the administration.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passed the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2001.

The convention defines intangible cultural heritage as the practices, representations, expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills, that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.

The organization has so far put 47 entities on the list, including China's Kunqu Opera in 2001.

Shen said the Chinese Commission for UNESCO, based at the Ministry of Education, listed TCM in 2001 in its five-year application plan for intangible cultural heritage status.

World heritage listing will help to make TCM better understood by the international community, Shen said.

"Our purpose is that we protect TCM not only for China itself, but also for all human beings," he said.

Shen also expects TCM will gain more attention from local governments and the general public in China as well.

He added that medical practices used by ethnic groups, such as Tibetan medicine, are included in TCM.

(China Daily 02/21/2005 page5)