A traditional Chinese medicine official urged further improving the core competitiveness of traditional Chinese medicine through innovation.

Yu Yanhong, Party chief and deputy head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 5th Traditional Chinese Medicine Science Conference, which opened in Huizhou, Guangdong province on Wednesday.

Yu said it is important to further promote the establishment of State labs of TCM and construction of the key lab systems to help achieve the goal in the years to come.

"TCM is the treasure of ancient Chinese science and is also a facet of Chinese civilization that we should inherit and further develop in the coming years," she said.

Yu also urged that TCM be further combined with western medicine to improve diagnosis and treatment in the years ahead.

"The combination of TCM with western medicine would help promote the development of medical science and improve the diagnosis and treatment in cases of serious and difficult illness," she added.

Yu urged relevant departments to further promote TCM, which has a very long history in diagnosing and treating diseases in China and build a good team of talent TCM doctors to better serve patients.

More than 200 officials, experts, TCM doctors and Nobel prizes winners attended the conference that will end on Thursday.

Meanwhile The Lingnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Exposition opened on Tuesday. Major TCM manufacturers from home and abroad are attending the 3-day exposition, with an aim to increase their presence in the vast mainland TCM market.