Recently, Yunnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Innovation Research Institute was unveiled and established in Kunming. The research institute focuses on the "Top Ten Cloud Medicines" (Sanqi, Dianzhonglou, Dengzhanhua, Dendrobium officinale, Shanren, Tianma, Yunfuling, Yundanggui, Yunmuxiang, Dianlongdan) and the representative varieties of the "Top Ten Health Resources" brands (Dianhuangjing, Honghua, Baiji, Zipi Dendrobium, Yuganzi, Coix seed, Kezi, Caoguo, Jiang, Bajiao), and collaborates with relevant departments and institutions to carry out technological innovation and achievement transformation of traditional Chinese medicine. This is the latest measure taken by Yunnan Province to promote the high-quality development of traditional Chinese medicine, especially authentic medicinal materials, since the on-site promotion meeting for the development of traditional Chinese medicine industry was held in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture on June 18, 2024. Yunnan has a complex and unique terrain with diverse climates. It not only has abundant and diverse high-quality authentic medicinal resources, but also has a profound ethnic medicine culture, injecting unique charm and vitality into industrial development. It can be said to be the "first workshop" for high-quality medicinal materials in the country. How to further promote the development of authentic medicinal herbs? How to make cloud medicine play a greater role in the construction of a healthy China? Our reporter interviewed Su Bao, President of Yunnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Association, and Li Yanzhen, Deputy Leader of Yunnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Working Group. Reporter: What are the overall characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine in Yunnan? What position does it occupy in the national herbal medicine database? Li Yanzhen: Cloud medicine generally exhibits the following three characteristics. The first is the abundance of resources, with 18817 types of traditional Chinese medicine resources in China and 8875 types in Yunnan, accounting for nearly 50%. Among them, medicinal plant resources rank first in the country. The second is its large scale, with Yunnan Province's traditional Chinese medicine base leading the country in terms of scale. The planting area of traditional Chinese medicinal materials in China is over 70 million mu, and in Yunnan it is over 10 million mu, accounting for nearly 1/7. The planting area of 18 traditional Chinese medicinal materials, including Sanqi, Tianma, Chonglou, Muxiang, and Sharen, has exceeded 100000 acres. The third is excellent variety. In 2024, Yunnan Province released the "Yunnan Provincial Road Medicinal Materials List (2024 Edition)", covering 156 authentic medicinal materials, among which Sanqi, Dengzhanhua, Caoguo and other products account for more than 90% of the national total production. Dianzhonglou, Yunmuxiang, Yunfuling, Sharen, Dendrobium and other products account for half of the national market supply. As an important production and processing base for traditional Chinese medicine and a genuine production area in China, many medicinal herbs in Yunnan, such as Sanqi, Tianma, Yunfuling, etc., enjoy a high reputation nationwide and even globally. Without cloud medicine, it is difficult to form a prescription "refers to the importance of cloud medicine in traditional Chinese medicine. Firstly, it provides a complete range of high-quality raw materials for the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and secondly, it plays an important role in ensuring people's health. Reporter: Which regions in Yunnan are most suitable for planting which medicinal herbs? Can you analyze from the perspectives of geography, climate, soil, etc. why Yunnan has become an ideal growing place for many authentic medicinal herbs? Su Bao: Yunnan has diverse geographical environments, and different regions are suitable for planting different medicinal herbs. For example, the southeastern and central regions of Yunnan are suitable for planting Panax notoginseng, the northeastern region of Yunnan is suitable for planting Gastrodia elata, and the northwestern region of Yunnan is suitable for planting Angelica sinensis, Gentiana macrophylla, and so on. Geographically speaking, Yunnan is located on a low latitude plateau with a unique geographical location and complex topography, with an altitude drop of 6663.6 meters. From a climate perspective, the phrase 'one mountain divided into four seasons, with different days within ten miles' is a vivid portrayal of the climate situation in Yunnan. The province has three climate types: cold, warm, and hot (including subtropical), covering various climates from Hainan Island to Heilongjiang, which is unique in the country. The vertical three-dimensional climate has created abundant species resources in Yunnan. From the perspective of soil, Yunnan Province has a variety of soil types with obvious vertical distribution characteristics. According to preliminary classification, there are 16 soil types in the province, accounting for 1/4 of the total types in the country, which meet the habitat requirements of many authentic medicinal herbs. Reporter: Which varieties of authentic medicinal materials in Yunnan Province are favored by the market due to their unique medicinal effects? Su Bao: The authentic medicinal herbs mainly known as the "Top Ten Cloud Herbs" are favored by the market due to their unique medicinal effects. Taking Sanqi as an example, its main active ingredients are Sanqi saponins, which have significant therapeutic effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The gastrodin and gastrodin polysaccharides in Tianma have good therapeutic effects on symptoms such as headache and dizziness. Chonglou is known as the "natural antibiotic" in traditional Chinese medicine, which has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. These authentic medicinal herbs occupy an important position in the international and domestic markets due to their excellent quality and therapeutic effects. Reporter: How to ensure the authenticity of traditional Chinese medicine? How to balance the combination of traditional planting methods and modern agricultural technology to ensure and improve the quality of medicinal materials? Li Yanzhen: Currently, the main planting modes of traditional Chinese medicine in Yunnan include field planting, understory planting, and simulated wild planting. To ensure the authenticity of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, on the one hand, it is necessary to fully guide and guide the planning of planting and breeding areas, and select suitable geographical environments for planting according to the growth needs of different medicinal materials. On the other hand, strengthen the management of seeds and seedlings, carry out breeding and promotion of high-quality varieties, and ensure the purity of the varieties. To ensure the stability of medicinal properties, we focus on variety stability, promote ecological planting, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and strengthen scientific research investment to study the growth patterns and medicinal ingredients of traditional Chinese medicinal materials. In terms of balancing traditional planting methods with modern agricultural technology, we not only retain traditional planting experience such as crop rotation and intercropping, but also introduce modern technological means to promote facility agriculture, such as precision irrigation, integrated water and fertilizer, green pest control, etc. We utilize the production laws of traditional Chinese medicinal materials to improve the accumulation of effective ingredients and enhance the quality of medicinal materials. Reporter: What specific policy measures has the government provided to promote the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry? What role has the association played in promoting policy implementation and industry self-discipline? Li Yanzhen: The Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and Government have always attached great importance to the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. They regard traditional Chinese medicine as an important industry in Yunnan's high-altitude characteristic agriculture and have proposed the decision to build it into a world-class modern industry. They have successively introduced a series of policy measures to increase support for the cultivation and breeding of traditional Chinese medicine, and promote the high-quality development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. For example, Yunnan Province has established a joint conference on the high-quality development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, with four provincial leaders as the overall convener and deputy convener. Several policy measures to support the high-quality development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry in Yunnan Province, a three-year action plan for the high-quality development of the industry, and regional planning for planting and breeding will be introduced soon. At the same time, a 10 billion yuan development fund for the traditional Chinese medicine industry has been planned to vigorously promote the GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) work of traditional Chinese medicine. Su Bao: The association has mainly done the following four aspects of work in promoting policy implementation, becoming a bridge and link for communication between enterprises and the government. One is to provide suggestions and recommendations for government departments to formulate policies, and participate in the writing of industrial development reports and plans. Secondly, the association has become the daily working unit and contact unit of the Yunnan Province Agricultural Modernization Traditional Chinese Medicine Key Industry Expert Group, providing professional and intellectual support for the high-quality development of the industry. The third is to participate in the GAP special promotion and the provincial GAP special team work under the guidance of four departments including the Department of Agriculture, undertake daily work, and provide GAP application guidance, construction consulting and other services for GAP application units. The fourth is to organize relevant training and guidance, organize specialized training on the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and assist enterprises and other practitioners in seeking policy support. In terms of industry self-discipline, the association has established a cloud medicine quality traceability platform, established a traceability and integrity evaluation mechanism, provided enterprises with a way to "prove their innocence", ensured product quality and traceability, strengthened guidance to member units, advocated enterprise integrity management, cracked down on counterfeit and shoddy products, created a good industry environment, and promoted coordinated development of the industry. Reporter: How is the application of cloud medicine in traditional Chinese medicine, health products, cosmetics and other fields? What is the development status of emerging application fields? Li Yanzhen: Chinese medicinal materials in Yunnan Province are widely used in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. For example, there are more than 540 traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations with Panax notoginseng as the raw material in China, more than 1200 pharmaceutical enterprises, and Yunnan Baiyao Group, Kunming Pharmaceutical Group and other industry leading enterprises that use Panax notoginseng on a large scale in Yunnan. In the field of health products, Qi and Blood Kang, produced by Baiyao Group with raw materials such as Sanqi, has become a star single product with annual sales revenue of over 100 million yuan. There are also many health food ingredients used in Yunnan, such as Tianma, Danggui, Baiji, Honghua and other authentic medicinal herbs. Good Doctor Group and other enterprises have established factories in Yunnan to deeply develop health food products. In the field of cosmetics, traditional Chinese medicine extracts such as prickly ash, purslane, dendrobium, aloe vera, etc. are applied in functional skincare products. Betainy, a local enterprise in Yunnan, has deeply researched and developed the use of prickly fruit extract to create Winona, which has become a leading brand in the field of functional skincare in China, with sales exceeding 5 billion yuan in 2023. At present, we are actively exploring the application of traditional Chinese medicine in the field of health, such as medicinal food homology, functional foods, traditional Chinese veterinary drugs, and special medical foods. Su Bao: In the future, we should vigorously develop the health food industry and transform medicinal herbs that share the same origin as food and medicine into high-end health foods. Research institutions and enterprises should seek direction from this aspect and not always be fixated on how to turn medicinal herbs into medicine. The country requires the healthcare system to shift from a "disease centered" approach to a "people-centered" approach, which cannot rely solely on medication. We have reached a consensus with Yunnan Food and Beverage Industry Association to develop Tonic Diet with Yunnan characteristics around gastrodia elata, polygonatum and other varieties in the next three years. (New Society)