Medicinal Plants: Rescuing a Global Heritage (WB, 1997, 80 p.) 2. China (introduction...) Production and trade Notable Chinese medicinal plants Government initiatives Links to modern medicine Links to agriculture Links to forestry Protecting medicinal-plant biodiversity

Medicinal Plants: Rescuing a Global Heritage (WB, 1997, 80 p.)

2. China

In China, medicinal plants have long enjoyed a prominent role in healthcare services. Indeed, Chinese traditional medicine has a history extending back 4000 years with the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine considered to be the world's oldest extant medical book. The most famous Chinese work on on traditional medicine was the Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen (1518-1593). The fiftytwo volumes describe 1,892 kinds of medicines, including 374 new ones, and 11,096 folk prescriptions and proven recipes. Zhong Yao Da Ci Dian, published in China in the 1970s describes 5,767 different kinds of herbal medicines (Box 3). In very modem times (1958) A Barefoot Doctors Manual, translated into many languages, describes both modem Western medical practices and the traditional Chinese methods of diagnosis and healing. Chinese traditional medicine stands today as the result of countless centuries of valuable practical experience, and is enriching modem medical knowledge throughout the world.

Box 3: The Snake That Knew A legend from the most ancient times tells of a farmer who found a snake near his hut. He beat it with his hoe and left it for dead. The same snake reappeared a few days later, apparently as healthy as before. Again the farmer beat it. This time he watched the bleeding snake crawl to a particular clump of weeds and begin to eat them. By the next morning its wounds were healing again, and its vitality rapidly returning. Such was the fabled discovery of san qi or Panax notoginseng. It is the main ingredient of Yunnan Baiyao, a light tan herbal powder that counteracts internal or external bleeding by promoting extremely rapid cell division and thus bonding the edges of wounds. Yunnan Baiyao also helps to improve blood circulation, disperse blood clots, and stop inflammation and swelling as well as expelling pus and counteracting poisons. Chinese soldiers have carried it in their first aid kits for many centuries. They call it jin bu huan - more precious than gold. Source: Yuqiu Guo, TONE, 1995.

Production and trade

Medicinal plants are as important as ever in Chinese commerce. Traditional medicine still retains a 40 percent share of the medicine market nationwide. In remote districts, however, plant-based preparations may account for 90 percent of drug consumption. Accordingly, the quantity of medicinal plants (in traditional medicines and as ingredients in "modem" medicines) is very large. And it is growing larger. Sales of traditional medicines over the last five years in China have increased 113 percent.

The majority of China's factory-processed drugs are of plant origin. In fact, medicinalplant preparations are almost as important as synthetic drugs, such as antibiotics. About 6000 plant-based medicinal preparations are processed into 3000 registered preparations and teas made from a crude drug or drug mixtures (these teas are locally known as yingpins). In 1990, Chinese doctors reportedly used for direct use in traditional prescriptions 700,000 tons of plant material. A number of traditional systems of medicine occur in China: Han, Yi, and Bai to name a few.

These efforts are backed up by an industrial enterprise of impressive size. In 1986, for instance, 300,000 persons were working in factories and traditional drugstores all over the country. Of the 519 Chinese traditional pharmaceutical factories in 1985, about 10 employed more than 1000 persons. By 1995, there were 2300 designated Traditional Chinese Medical hospitals, 846 manufacturers and 250,000 traditionally trained Chinese doctors. There are over 5000 licensed patent medicines, including 2,500 health products that utilize 11,559 botanical, animal and mineral sources.

The share of factory-made traditional drugs has continuously increased as a percentage of total pharmaceutical consumption from 1975 to 1995 (see Table 1). The following data are an indication of the level of regulated trade and value which has experienced 113 percent growth between 1990-1995. Beyond this regulated trade there is a family-based and localmarket trade. The size of this is unknown but it is safe to assume that it is considerable and that it imposes a heavy demand on wild-plant sources since little of it is based on cultivated plants.

Factory-made traditional pharmaceutical preparations are exported to markets where the Chinese system of medicine is practiced. The highest value of shipments from a single factory in 1986 was $20 million. Figures for production growth are given in Table 2.

The exports go mainly to Asian countries, but plant-based medicinal products are also sent to Europe and, increasingly, the United States and Canada. A single company in the United Kingdom, for example, sells 1500 herbal products, the majority of which are traditional Chinese remedies. The products are sold to medical practitioners and consumers, and are licensed as food supplements. Each comes with information on uses and dosages, but no medicinal claims. In the future, the company intends subjecting some of its products through clinical trials in hopes they can then be marketed as over-the-counter medicines.

Table 1: Sales 1975-1985 of synthetic pharmaceuticals and traditional medicines and 1990-1995 of traditional medicines in China in regulated markets

Year	Total Sales ($ million)	Traditional Medicines	Percent Share ($ million)
1975	3,179	350	10.9
1976	3,209	350	10.9
1977	3,644	400	11.0
1978	4,200	456	10.9
1979	4,779	579	12.1
1980	5,211	696	13.4
1981	4,914	749	15.2
1981	4,945	809	16.4
1982	5,354	920	17.2
1983	4,923	869	17.6
1984	4,107	739	18.0
1985	3,930	710	18.0
1990	n.a.	1,111	n.a.
1991	n.a.	1,317	n.a.
1992	n.a.	1,534	n.a.
1993	n.a.	1,701	n.a.
1994	n.a.	1,395	n.a.
1995	n.a.	1,451*	n.a.

* estimate of the Eighth Five Year Plan

n.a. not available

Source: 1976-85 Better Use of Medicinal Plants. UNIDO, 1987. 1990-95 State TCM Administration. (S.Kuipers, pers. com.)

Table 2: Production Statistics 1979-1986 of Chinese Traditional Medicine Factories (ex-factory price)

Year	Number of		Gross Output		Value added
	establishments	employees	($ million)	(thousand tons)
1979	269	n.a.	448	78	102
1980	352	n.a.	581	84	146
1981	402	86,885	642	103	174
1982	409	98,584	714	130	216
1983	427	104,429	810	141	242
1984	476	110,303	767	137	245
1985	519	118,842	713	156	243
1986	535	125,000	680	160	234

Source: State Pharmaceutical Association of China; 1986 figures are UNIDO estimates.

A well-organized operation lies behind such enterprises. In this case, British importers buy raw and processed plant materials-such as concentrated powders and various extracts-from China. They also import 100 Chinese patent medicines, the selling price of which is about five times the value of the raw materials they contain. Importers repackage and relabel the products, providing information to satisfy British regulatory requirements and using attractive packaging to meet the expectations of the Western consumer.

Notable Chinese medicinal plants

During the past 30 years, the identifications of the historically recorded medicinal plants have been verified and their chemical taxonomy determined. The Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Crude Drugs (1977) describes the botanical and analytical standards of 5646 crude drugs. The latest edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia contains a list of 647 crude drugs of botanical origin, their formulations, methods of preparation, requirements and tests for strength and purity, and related information. The Ministry of Health has begun the standardization of the names of all phytopharmaceutical preparations.

Three of the most commonly-used plant species in Chinese medicinal preparations are described below. They give a sense of the botanical wealth to be found in China's natural resource heritage.

Ginseng (Panax ginseng). Probably the most famous among Chinese traditional drugs, ginseng was first described in Materia Medica written almost 2000 years ago in China. It is By the 4th Century, centers of production, time of harvesting and morphological characters had been recorded. During the past 1500 years, the value of ginseng has remained high - "equal to its weight in silver." The plant also occurs and is cultivated in Korea, Japan, Russia and North America. Because the root shape can resemble the human form, it was believed to be effective in curing disease and strengthening the weak (i.e. a general cardiac tonic). Its medicinal value appears to stimulate the pituitary gland resulting in homeostasis (chemical and metabolic balance). This concept is the central principle of traditional Chinese medicine.

Production data for ginseng are given in Table 3. Jilin Province in northeast China is the major producing area but in recent years Liaoning and Hailong, Provinces have increased production.

Table 3: Domestic Market Dried Ginseng (tons)

Province	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Jilin	1800	2500	3200	4100	5400	5500	5000	4000	3500	3000
Liaoning	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	2000	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	1300	n.a.	800
Heilong.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	500	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	1000	n.a.	400
Total				6600				6300		4200

Source: He Shan-An, Institute of Botany, Nanjing.

The price while high in 1988 ($250,000 per ton) dropped in 1989 with record yields to $80,000 per ton, but has been rebounding in recent years (for instance, in 1995 it was $150,000 per ton). The significant price difference between 1988 and 1989 might be indicative of what can happen with increased production and no price control at the farm level. Approximately 2000 tons of dried ginseng with a value of $50,000 per ton are exported annually. Another 2000 tons (undocumented) are also exported. At the same time North American ginseng exports to China doubled between 1993 (1140 tons) and 1995 (2200 tons).

Eucommia (Eucommia ulmoides). This plant also known as the gutta-percha tree, has been an important economic plant and is endemic to the mountainous regions of China. It is now known only in cultivation, having been harvested into extinction in the wild. All parts of the tree are valuable but the bark is the main medicinal. For many centuries, eucommia, bark or tu-chung was used traditionally as a rejuvenating tonic to benefit the liver and kidney, and to strengthen the muscles and bones. It was only in 1948 that its antihypertensive activity was discovered. The bark is the source of the active compound pinoresinal di-ß-D-glucoside.

This tree's bark, fruit, and leaves contain 6 to 18 percent gutta-percha, a material chemically akin to natural rubber but that is hard and lacks "bounce" . The extracted rubber has excellent insulation properties, low moisture absorption and is resistant to acid, alkali, oil, and corrosion, and represents one of the important raw materials for the manufacturing of undersea cables and airplane tires. It has excellent bonding properties, serving as materials for filling teeth and setting bones. The seed is the source of high quality cooking oil. The leaves contain vitamin C and may be used as tea. The wood is valued for manufacturing furniture and handicrafts.

The tree is found in more than 260 counties of 16 Chinese provinces. Hunan is the major center of production, producing more than all the other provinces together. The Province has the Eucommia Scientific Research Centre located in Cili County. Approximately 0.2 million hectares are under eucommia plantations. The total annual yield is about 4000 tons of bark, of which about 2000 tons are exported. Production is expected to reach 5000 tons by 2000. While leaf production is more difficult to calculate, exports in 1993 reached 5000 tons.

Despite the quantities produced, there is not enough to meet the demand. Because of its many uses the bark's market prices are high and stable; domestic prices are between $6 per kilogram and the international market is $80 per kilogram. 35 Production is expected to increase significantly in the future as the plant can be intercropped. with food crops and used to rehabilitate degraded hillsides. Provincial medicinal-use production figures are presented in Table 4.

Table 4: Eucommia Cultivation in China, 1993

Regions	Total area (ha)	Bark yield (tons)	Leaf yield (tons)	Output value ($ million)
Hanghong, Shaanxi	36,000	500	2500	19.5
Ankang, Shaanxi	33,000	990	40,000	30.5
Cili, Hunan*	27,000	2000	40,000	114.9
Anchu, Shandong	800	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Jiangxi	7000	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.

Source: He Shan-An, Institute of Botany, Nanjing.

Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). Human beings have been using this shrub for at least 1200 years. The plant known in English as seabuckthorn, was recorded in the Tibetan medicinal classics (the Four Books of Pharmacopoeia) completed in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Although China was one of the earliest countries in the world to use seabuckthorn as a medicinal plant, until 1980 its use was limited to Tibet and Mongolia. The processing of seabuckthorn medicinal products did not start in China until 1986. It has proven to be a profitable crop because of its many uses in the medicinal, food, and cosmetic industries.

At present, 1.2 million hectares (95 percent of world total) of seabuckthorn are under cultivation in 19 provinces. Seven breeding stations have been established to select new varieties adapted to different biogeographic regions.

In China, there are an estimated 740,000 hectares and 300,000 hectares of natural and cultivated plants. As of 1995, more than 10,000 people were employed on various aspects of plant development, 95 percent are located in rural areas and do not include farmers. Because major economic benefits can be realized quickly (in three or four years) farmers are keen to plant. Approximately 50,000 tons of seabuckthorn berries are harvested annually and processed into 200,000 tons of various products valued at $35.7 million. The Chinese government has invested more $25 million in seabuckthorn research and development.

The shrub has attracted a great deal of attention from scientists and engineers around the world because of its combined ecological and economic benefits. The seabuckthorn root system, for example, is so extensive that its roots can branch many times in a growing season and form a complex underground network that holds the soil from slippage like wire reinforcing mesh in concrete. When plants are buried under sediments massive adventitious roots extend to form new horizontal root systems. An individual plant can propagate massive bushes or a small forest in several years. This is why the seabuckthorn bushes play such a prominent role in protecting river banks, preventing floods and minimizing slope erosion. The plants are considered more effective than any construction work. Furthermore, its role in rehabilitation and upgrading of marginal or fragile slopes through soil-binding is well documented.

Where land degradation and its accompanying poverty occur it can play an important role in soil and water conservation and land rehabilitation. Seabuckthorn is a multipurpose plant, and its potential is far from fully exploited. With further study, more and more uses could be developed in the near future. Its humanitarian and economic benefits can be summarized as follows. The plant is:

· a source of low-priced vitamins, seabuckthorn fruits can benefit millions of children suffering from vitamin A deficiency.

· a means for generating cash income, it has since 1985, in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, provided farmers with earnings of about $1.06 million from the sale of fruit every year.

· an option for stabilizing mountain slopes it is selected by farmers and engineers because of its extensive root system, soil binding qualities, its provision of good surface cover, and its utility as fodder, food, fuelwood, and supplier of medicine.

It seems no wonder, therefore, that a 1990 assessment put China's total area of seabuckthorn at about I million hectares, and the total value of its products at more than $20 million per year. Moreover, between 1991-1995, an additional 330,000 hectares were scheduled to be bought under seabuckthorn cultivation.

Government initiatives

China's long-term goal is to eventually unify and integrate traditional and Western approaches to medicine, but, given the complexities involved, this will require years to achieve. There has been a movement to speed the process of shared use of hospital facilities, cooperative approaches by traditional medicine and Western medicine. Most importantly, this has involved mobilizing and training traditional medicine practitioners as part of a primary prevention strategy against chronic disease. In this, the Chinese Academies of Science and Medical Sciences play a leading role in medicinal-plant research. The Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry appear to play a very limited role.

One part of the governmental health service deals specifically with the application of traditional medicine. The State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was established in 1987 as a separate administrative agency reporting directly to the State Council. A separate TCM structure is present at the Provincial and City levels. The formal TCM structure has, as its lowest level, a series of TCM hospitals. These are sometimes quite large institutions. There are many thousands of both formally trained and informally trained traditional practitioners. TCM practices are found at most Western hospitals and in most clinics and health centers. The separate vertical structure is justified by TCM authorities as being needed to protect TCM institutions and personnel from being overwhelmed and absorbed by the larger and more powerful Western medicine system.

A government corporation is the leading promoter of medicinal-plant cultivation. The National Corporation of Traditional and Herbal Medicine is an integral part of the State Pharmaceutical Administration of China. Established in the early 1950s, it was given responsibility for the cultivation, collection, and distribution of medicinal substances of natural origin, as well as for the industrial production and domestic distribution of phytopharmaceutical preparations. This organization's importance has been rising ever since. In 1987, for instance, China devoted 300,000 hectares strictly to medicinal-plant cultivation. By 1995, the area had increased almost 50 percent, to 439,000 hectares, a clear recognition that the government has responded to the need to meet the rising consumer demand (see Table 5). Government policy encourages producers to see their work as a longterm business. Interest-free credit is given to farmers on request.

Table 5: Cultivation of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Plants 1990-1995 (1000 of ha)

Year	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Area planted	363	384	426	382	424	439

Source: State TCM Administration (S. Kuipers, pers com.)

In 1987, UNIDO carried out a joint study with the National Corporation of Traditional and Herbal Medicine to determine the needs of an expanded pharmaceutical industry. They concluded that important socioeconomic advantages would be gained by using domestic medicinal-plant raw materials, resulting in the creation of jobs both in agriculture and industry, and the regular availability of safe and effective drugs at an affordable price for primary healthcare. The investment costs to support a pharmaceutical industry were considered relatively small, the dosage form and quality control capacities would be convertible, and the acquired knowledge and experience would prove useful at an eventual diversification date. Programs supporting integration of traditional and modem medicine would include:

· special educational Programs to publicize the proper use of plant-derived herbal medicines; and

· consultations at regional levels on various facets of the medicinal-plant industry, stressing quality standards and safety, with a view to promoting the wider use and acceptance of herbal medicines.

· a new class of antimalarial/antipyretic properties from the leaf of sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua);

· analgesic and nervous system depressants from the rhizomes of yanhusuo (Corydalis sp.); and

· antitumor ingredients from bark of the plum yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia).

Links to modern medicine

Legal recognition and government patronage granted to traditional medicine are seen as key factors in the future successful integration of the two systems (see Table 6). It is legal to sell medicinal plants and herbs in the free market, both in rural and urban areas. However, if a new medicinal-plant product or crude drug is to be imported from abroad for sale in the Chinese market, then the approval of the provincial department of public health is required. The new product will be assessed according to standards in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China. The origin of the material must always be clearly marked.

Table 6: Examples of Traditional Chinese Plant Medicines as Related to Modern Usage

Species	Name - English	Name - Chinese	Modern Application	Plant Part
Aguilaria sinensis		Peimoshan	asthma, cardiac	bark, exudate
Amomum villosum		Sahun	stomach ache	seeds
Begonia finbristipula	Begonia	Qiuhaitang	heat or sunstroke	leaves
Cartharentus roseus		Changchunhwa	anti-tumor	all parts
Chrysantheum morifolium	Chrysantheum	Chuhua	cold, influenza	flowers
Eriobotrya japonica	Loquat	Pipa	pulmonary disorders	fruit
Lonicera japonica	Honeysuckle	Chinyen Hua	fever, cold	flower, vine
Cephalotaxus haenensis		Sanjiansan	leukemia, lymph node, tumors	whole plant
Morus alba	White Mulberry	Sang	diuretic, pulmonary soother	leaves
Trichosanthes kirilowii		Tienhwafen	reduce infection	fruits, seeds

Source: Wang, L. 1987. Plants to Keep People Healthy.

All Chinese herbal medicines produced in factories either for local use or for export have to undergo quality control tests before being released. Each factory has its own quality control unit that checks on the quality of different samples of the product. An attempt is being made to ensure that the quality of Chinese traditional medicine produced in China is of a high standard. Among the factors considered in choosing the standard substance against which all preparations will be tested are such factors as climate, soil, and time of collecting.

Rigid criteria are being laid down for assessing patented traditional Chinese medicines. The manufacturer must list the main ingredient and the other ingredients. Reviewing authorities will determine whether there are incompatibilities between the different ingredients. Only after assuring themselves that the product conforms to the Chinese traditional system of medicine, that it is safe, and that the ingredients are not incompatible with each other will the patent medicine be allowed to be released into the market. The review and assessment is largely carried out by persons trained in the traditional Chinese system of medicine.

The Chinese authorities are well aware of the problems and constraints facing them in developing this link with modem medicine and are endeavoring to develop a system that would use similar standards of quality control without detriment to the practice of Chinese traditional medicine and use of plant-based remedies in this system of medicine.

Box 4: New Hope for Malaria Malaria occurs in 103 countries and strikes 270 million people worldwide annually, killing two million, according to the World Health Organization. The parasites are developing resistance to chloroquin and other synthetic drugs. For more than 2000 years, traditional Chinese healers have relied on an infusion of qing hao (wormwood leaves from Artemisia annua, a common weed) in water to cure the potentially fatal fevers of malaria. The active ingredient in qing hao, artemisinin acts by turning the malaria parasite's food into poison. The mosquito-borne parasite that causes malaria settles either in the liver, where the disease becomes chronic, or in blood cells in the brain, where it can lead to coma and death. The parasite feeds on blood but does not metabolize the iron in red blood cells, instead keeping it in a kind of sac. When the chemicals in artemisinin come in contact with the iron, a toxin is created that kills the parasite, thereby curing the malaria, according to Steven Meshnick, a parasitologist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, who has tested the drug on malaria patients in Vietnam. Artemisinin is being extracted from plants and formulated into medications in Vietnam at very low cost. The drug is effective against both major types of malaria, the vivax strain, which occurs in the liver, and the falciparum strain in the brain. The drug has been used on more than 2 million patients with no side effects. Other drugs for malaria are mostly synthetic derivatives of quinine, to which the parasite has become resistant. Researchers in China, United States, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Vietnam are studying the therapeutic powers of this ancient remedy. More than a dozen derivatives of artemisinin are being tested around the world in a program sponsored by WHO, United Nations Development Program and the World Bank. Source: S. Meshnick, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1996.

Since China had to rely on its own natural and human resources until very recently it developed its own models based on pragmatism and practicality, and this has greatly helped medicinal-plant research . Being isolated minimized the constraints placed on traditional Western concepts of research methodology. This afforded them opportunities to make advances and use medicinal plants both for research and therapeutic effect. For example, they have released for widespread evaluation gossypol, a male contraceptive, and arternisinin for malaria control (see Box 4). The working relationship between field scientists, pharmacologists, and clinical investigators is proving effective. Such a strategy could be very rewarding for other developing countries as it clearly recognizes the importance and value of the knowledge of traditional medicinal practitioners in providing affordable healthcare.

Links to agriculture

Apparently, the Ministry of Agriculture has no specific mandate related to the cultivation of medicinal plants. It has, however, identified 1000 species of medicinal plant and 380 species of medicinal fungi of economic importance. Medicinal plants are seen as a companion crop to food crops, and an additional source of income, especially in remote and highland areas.

The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Institutes of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are actively engaged in medicinal-plant research, including cultivation. In 1987, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences set up a national germplasm bank for crop genetic resources. At present, it has 230,000 accessions, but it is not known if they include medicinal plants.

Links to forestry

China is poor in forest resources, with a total forested area of 131 million hectares covering 13.6 percent of the land area. The Chinese Ministry of Forestry has prepared a detailed afforestation model, which covers technical silviculture prescriptions, growth targets, establishment costs, financial and economic rates of return, and environmental benefits. Currently, there are about 12.7 million hectares of plantation forests, and representing 65 percent of the area under plantation forest in all of Asia.

A China Forest Resource Development and Protection Project included the medicinal plant eucommia under protection forests. The component integrates non-consumptive economic activities with afforestation for environmental benefits. Under the project 8700 hectares (3.1 percent) were to be planted to eucommia in Sichuan Province.

In addition to the cultivation figures in Table 4, approximately 10,000 hectares of eucommia and other broadleafed species of medicinal plant have been planted in Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces plus 1200 hectares in Hunan Province. In neither project is the Ministry of Forestry involved in species selection regarding climatic and ecological suitability to specific site conditions, environmental management objectives, and the socioeconomic requirements of the afforestation entities for income generation, fuelwood and other forest products. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Forestry has an important role to play in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Eucommia Scientific Research Centre, Cili County, Hunan, and other ministries and bureaus to ensure the successful establishment of medicinal-plant cultivation programs.

Protecting medicinal-plant biodiversity

Due to the destruction of forests, overgrazing of remote and marginal lands, expansion of industry and urbanization, as well as the excessive harvesting of wild rare and endangered plants, biological diversity of medicinal plants is being reduced day by day. The Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (IMPLAD), a WHO Collaborating Centre of Traditional Medicine under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, specializes in research on medicinal plants. A primary function of IMPLAD is to protect and enlarge medicinal-plant resources and improve their quality.

Examples of threatened species include:

· Fritillaria cirrhosa occurring in northwestern Sichuan Province is rarely found today; roots are used for respiratory infections and as a cancer remedy;

· Dioscorea spp. Many species of Chinese yam have been eradicated throughout much of their original range during the past 30 years; roots used as an analgesic, seeds as diuretic, leaf against scorpion stings, and the whole plant as a tea;

· Iphigenia indica populations are under serious threat in northwestern Yunnan as a result of low fecundity and the effects of overharvesting; the bulb (root) has antitumor compounds; and

· licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) has also suffered from over-collection and consumption, and exports have been stopped to restore the production base; root extracts used as antidiarrheal, flowers for upper respiratory diseases.

Preserving Wild Genes. It is generally reported that of the 35,000 plant species growing in China, approximately 5136 are used as drugs in Chinese Traditional Medicine (see Table 7).

Table 7: Chinese Medicinal Plants Identified To Date

Origin	Number of Species	Origin	Number of Species
Thallophytes (algae/fungi)	281	Gymnosperms	55
Bryophytes	39	Angiosperms
Pteridophytes	395	Monocotyledons	676
		Dicotyledons	3690
		Total	5136

Source: Xiao(1991)

Of the 389 rare and endangered plant species listed in the Chinese Red Data Book (1991) 77 are traditional Chinese medicinal plants. Although more than 50 are being grown in botanical gardens, there is still insufficient research on their protection. A number of important medicinal plants have been preserved in genebanks under the auspices of several agricultural institutions and botanical gardens. Every effort is being made to expand research on population genetic variation. One such example is Atractylodes lancea, preparations which inhibit indigestion, edema (fluid build-up), vomiting and chronic gastroenteritis.

In-Situ Conservation. The Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan for China was initiated in 1992 with funding under the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) program. 49 The in-country process is coordinated by the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), which established a Leading Group to provide overall supervision, direction and coordination. It is composed of those agencies with significant biodiversity responsibilities. To date 700 nature reserves, 480 scenic areas and 5 10 forest parks have been established. However, for purposes of coordinating departments and solving management issues there is no single authority, nor any state law or unified set of regulations.

NEPA established a Medical Management Department responsible for the national use and protection of precious medicinal materials (plant, animal and mineral). Some geographical regions have been declared protected areas for the growth of vulnerable species (for example licorice). Authorities believe such action is necessary to restore sustainable production levels.

Ex-Situ Conservation and Cultivation. A number of long-term programs have been established to conserve medicinal plants and enhance their value through cultivation. The agricultural area used for cultivation of medicinal plants increased from 300,000 hectares in 1986 to 440,000 hectares by 1995 and produces about 40 percent of the total output of crude drugs. Each year, approximately 200 medicinal plants species are cultivated. More than 700 farms are engaged in cultivating high-quality medicinal plants. In addition, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany, Nanjing has a 186 hectare farm that includes a Medicinal Plant Garden and a Rare and Endangered Conservation Garden. The institute has recently established the Jiangsu Plant Ex-Situ Conservation Laboratory that works closely with the Phytochemical Laboratory in research on medicinal plants.

Important measures have been adopted to guarantee the continuous supply of raw materials to industry and the market. Government guidelines have been established regarding the protection, exploitation, and utilization of natural resources. 51 As a result of recent research and development programs, a number of previously wild medicinal plants (for example Glycyrrhiza platycodi, G. gentianae, G. astragali, and G. changii) have been successfully cultivated. 52 Xiao (1991) identified additional wild growing medicinal plants which are needed in large quantities and now being cultivated:

· Chinese licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis); roots and lower stem are used as a buffer in herbal prescriptions, act similar to adrenocortical hormones, and are effective against stomach ulcers and Addison's Disease;

· rhubarb (Rheum palmatum); root extracts reduce dyspepsia, fever and diarrhea; Chinese researchers are actively studying anticancer properties;

· broomrape (Cistanche deserticola); a parasitic herb used against impotency;

· China "root" (Poria cocos); a fungus growing on pine tree roots, promotes diuresis; and

· yam (Dioscorea nipponica); root extracts used for rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, modem biotechnology is used for propagating Lithospermum erythrorhizon, Panax quinquefolium, Corydalis yanhuosu, Scopolia tangutica and others. This has included tissue-culture propagation, for example.

The Beijing Botanical Garden of the Institute of Botany and the Medicinal Botanical Garden of Guangxi Autonomous Region published in 1994 a color atlas of traditional Chinese medicines with text on techniques of their cultivation. The atlas is in two parts and includes: (i) 302 traditional Chinese medicinal plants; plants are listed in eleven categories according to plant parts used; and (ii) cultivation and propagation methods, management, control of pests and diseases, and harvesting and processing of the medicinal products.

Government policy encourages practitioners of traditional medicine to see their work as a long-term business. At the same time, interest-free loans are given to farmers on request as an inducement to grow medicinal plants. Information on demand and supply is widely disseminated. Over-supply of raw materials due to favorable weather conditions is purchased, processed, and held in stock.