The 7th Traditional Chinese Medicine Science Conference opens in Quzhou on Dec 14. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 7th Traditional Chinese Medicine Science Conference – which opened in Quzhou city, in East China's Zhejiang province on Dec 14-15 – attracted scientists and doctors from home and abroad to discuss a wide range of traditional Chinese medicine or TCM topics, including medical discoveries.

Other key areas of discussion included the integration of national strategies with TCM and international cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chen Zhu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, told at the conference's opening ceremony that health was the eternal theme of humanity and the common concern of the world, and that TCM therapies were playing an important role in helping treat coronavirus patients.

"Promoting the development of TCM globally is also an important call during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25)," added Chen, who is also chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party.

"We should pay attention to the development of TCM itself, sharpen its core competitiveness and pay more attention to the contribution of TCM to society and human health," he said.

Chen said that society should give full play to the unique advantages of Chinese medicine and "contribute Chinese wisdom to the community for a shared future for human health".

During the conference, a number of Nobel Prize laureates, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, well-known experts in the field of TCM and others gathered to discuss the application of TCM in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and infection.