It was two years ago that Yang Changshun started studying how to plant traditional Chinese medicinal (TCMs) herbs.

The harvest has come around - and the Hanyin County farmer in Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is expecting to make at least 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) from selling the plants.

One of the most important is gegen, mainly used in TCM for treating high blood pressure and headaches.

"This sum is four or five times what I earned out of the grain crops I used to plant," he said.

And the future appears even brighter.

Yang plans to expand his herbs from the current 100 mu (6.6 hectares) to nearly 500 mu (33.3 hectares) next year.

"By the end of next year, income from the herbs should reach between 700,000 yuan (US$84,600) and 800,000 yuan (US$96,700)," he said.

Xu Jintang, a professor with the Institute of Medicinal Plants under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said herbs in Ankang, which lies in the mountainous southern Shaanxi, are of good quality and rich variety.

Ankang boasts 1,299 kinds of herbal plants. Of the 500 to 600 often-used TCMs in China, more than 330 can be found in Ankang.

"The land here is good for planting and herbs produced here are easy to sell," Yang said.

Yang realized the benefits of growing this alternative type of crop before other local farmers in Ankang.

But with the Ankang government's commitment to develop the industry into a leading industry of the city, more are getting ready to join Yang.

According to Mayor Liu Jianming, by 2010, the output value in the city is projected to reach 3 billion yuan (US$361 million), accounting for 12.3 percent of the local gross domestic product (GDP).

Last year's output was 1.26 billion yuan (US$151 million) and accounted for 6.3 percent of the GDP.

"I warmly applaud such a decision," Yang said. He said farmers would not be able to move into the herb-planting industry until the government took steps to mobilize people.

Yang said the government had offered technical aid to him when he started planting herbs.

"The county's science and technology bureau sent experts to teach me," he said. All technical services were free.

Ankang's commitment was supported by the State Intellectual Property Office.

A pilot base

In early October, Ankang was named a national pilot base for the industrialization of patented techniques in TCM herbs.

Farmers and businessmen are also expected to safeguard the intellectual property rights of the herbs they grow and sell, said Gu Xiaoli, deputy director of the co-ordination and administration department under the State Intellectual Property Office.

This should mean patents will be granted to local owners once they develop a new type of medicine and successfully apply for a patent. More importantly, the rules should help businesses expand their markets both at home and abroad.

Ankang was chosen as pilot base because the TCM industry in the city is well structured, Gu said.

"Here you can see almost all the factors: the planting of herbs, research, and also manufacture of medicines."

The experience in Ankang can be adopted in many other places in the country, she said.

A trade fair on TCMs was held in the city in early October.

"It would be good if Ankang can become a national base for patents," said Xu.

He said awareness of patent law should be raised among Chinese researchers.

He also said the government should enforce existing laws and regulations related to intellectual property rights.

In recent years the number of patent applications in TCM has risen in China, according to Gu.

Gu's office received 3,247 applications in 2001. In 2002 the number climbed to 3,865, while it rose to 4,030 last year.

Nearly 93 per cent were domestic applicants, but what the foreign applications lacked in number, they made up for in technology, said Gu.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is thousands of years old in its homeland.

Yet China only takes 3 to 5 per cent of the world market, Gu said.

(China Daily October 28, 2004)