The fourth China (Gansu) Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Expo held in Longxi county of Gansu province from Wednesday to Saturday showcases the province's rich traditional Chinese medicine heritage and injects new vitality into the medicinal industry's development.

The fourth China (Gansu) Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Expo kicks off in Longxi county on Wednesday. [Photo provided by Ma Jingna for China Daily]

With the theme of "Inheritance, Innovation, Openness and Sharing to Promote the High-Quality Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine", the expo is being conducted in a combination of online and offline formats, covering an opening ceremony, major forums on such topics as the high-quality development of traditional Chinese medicine, new policies, standards, technologies and products, investment promotion, and contribution of local medicinal materials to rural vitalization, as well as exhibitions and sales activities.

This year's event features a richer variety of exhibits with over 100 companies and more than 500 types of authentic medicinal materials such as Angelica sinensis, Codonopsis pilosula and Astragalus membranaceus, as well as well-known domestic traditional Chinese medicine, health products and pharmaceutical innovation achievements.

In addition to the three original exhibition halls, the event has added a "Chinese Medicinal Material Planting and Processing Machinery Exhibition Area" and a "Health Experience Street", integrating display, sales and experiential activities to highlight the inheritance and latest achievements of traditional Chinese medicine in China.

Furthermore, a virtual reality exhibition hall has been set up to facilitate online visits.

Gansu is an important pharmaceutical resource base in China and the main production area for authentic medicinal materials such as Astragalus, Angelica sinensis and Codonopsis.

The province has a total of 2,540 kinds of Chinese medicinal materials, of which 276 are national key varieties, accounting for 76 percent of China's total. It is known as the nation's "natural pharmacy".

In recent years, Gansu has established an industry chain system covering the entire process of planting, storage, circulation, processing, scientific research and use of medicinal materials.

It has built standardized planting bases covering some 66,700 hectares and promoted the planting of medicinal materials on about 180,000 hectares of standardized land.