Traditional medicine maker to go overseas
By Zhang Lu (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-16 09:46

Beijing's Tong Ren Tang Group, China's leading producer of traditional Chinese medicines, is to speed up expansion in overseas markets during the next few years.

"We plan to open 100 pharmacies outside the Chinese mainland by the year 2008," Mei Qun, general manager of the group, said in an interview yesterday.

At present, the company has opened 14 joint venture companies and pharmacies handling sales in Hong Kong, Britain, the United States and some Southeast Asian countries.

With the growth of overseas sales, Tong Ren Tang Group, China's leading producer of traditional Chinese medicines, is planning to set up manufacturing facilities outside of Chinese mainland.[newsphoto]

Its drugstores in Singapore and South Korea, which began operations in March this year, have been welcomed by local residents and look set to make profits.

Brisk overseas business in past years has helped the company increase its sales to more than US$20 million last year, compared with US$1.86 million in 1993, when it began overseas trade and its first joint venture was established in Hong Kong.

"Our aim is that by 2008, sales volume of exported products will amount to US$60 million," Mei said.

Tong Ren Tang's existing co-operation with overseas firms is mainly involved in trading. "Now we are considering moving to the manufacturing sector," he said.

With the growth of overseas sales, the company, which has four production bases in Beijing, is planning to set up manufacturing facilities overseas.

"The first one is likely to be in the Southeast Asian region, as there is a large population of Chinese and consumers more easily accept traditional Chinese medicines," Mei said.

Statistics show that global sales volumes of herbal medicines has exceeded US$30 billion, increasing 10 per cent year-on-year. China's products only account for 3 to 5 per cent, and 80 per cent of traditional Chinese medicines traded on the world market are raw materials.

Lack of standards and accurate statistics on ingredients and effectiveness are major factors restricting traditional Chinese medicine from entering the global market, industry experts say.

Tong Ren Tang is now focusing on research and development, further improving technology content of its products and research on its traditional recipes, in a bid to cater to the international market.

According to Mei, the company is negotiating with the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine on setting up a research centre, with an investment of more than 100 million yuan (US$12 billion), to offer strong back-up for both of its domestic and overseas development.

With more than 800 medicines, Tong Ren Tang had a total sales volume of nearly 5 billion yuan (US$362 million) and a net profit of 300 million yuan last year.

The company, celebrating its 335th anniversary this week, has set an ambitious goal of achieving a sales volume of 30 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) and a net profit of 1.3 billion yuan (US$157 million) by the year 2011.

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