Sichuan province looks set to boost its Chinese medicine sector in co-operation with Hong Kong investors through its trade fair and the listing of its enterprises on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM).
The province has brought about 200 projects with a combined contract value of US$2.5 billion to the fair and Chinese medicine development tops the agenda.
The director of the office of the co-ordinating group for modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine industry (Sichuan), Liu Xiaoheng, said co-operation with Hong Kong made it easier to get access to financing and marketing of Chinese medicine overseas.
About 10 companies engaged in the development of Chinese medicine, computer software and chemicals in the western province's capital Chengdu had contacted two securities firms in the SAR in their bid to list on GEM, Chengdu vice-mayor He Shaohua said.
There are 203 Chinese medicine manufacturers in Sichuan. Last year, the output from the province's Chinese medicine sector reached 1.4 billion yuan (about HK$1.3 billion).
u said Sichuan was a key production centre of Chinese medicine and the next step was to develop a national sales network with the help of Hong Kong investors and promote Chinese medicine to overseas market through the SAR.
