Medical systems function in specific cultural contexts. It is common to speak of the medicine of China, Japan, India, and other nation-states. Yet almost all formalized medical systems claim universal applicability and, thus, are ready to cross the cultural boundaries that contain them. There is a critical tension, in theory and practice, in the ways regional medical systems are conceptualized as "nationalistic" or inherently transnational. This volume is concerned with questions and problems created by the friction between nationalism and transnationalism at a time when globalization has greatly complicated the notion of cultural, political, and economic boundedness. Offering a range of perspectives, the contributors address questions such as: How do states concern themselves with the modernization of "traditional" medicine? How does the global hegemony of science enable the nationalist articulation of alternative medicine? How do global discourses of science and "new age" spirituality facilitate the transnationalization of "Asian" medicine? As more and more Asian medical practices cross boundaries into Western culture through the popularity of yoga and herbalism, and as Western medicine finds its way east, these systems of meaning become inextricably interrelated. These essays consider the larger implications of transmissions between cultures.

This book explores the ongoing transition of China’s economy by examining how its healthcare industry is growing and changing. The coronavirus pandemic has reinforced one of the authors' key points: in our complex, fragile, and interconnected societies, the production of health is a vital strategic ‘industry’. The case of China is particularly salient, because of its economic and geopolitical significance, and the scale of the healthcare challenge it has faced. Adopting a multi-level perspective, the authors examine the entrepreneurial role of the Chinese government as it seeks to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic firms. They analyze the strategies employed to improve China’s technology and capacity for innovation, and discuss China’s strategies and policies to ensure knowledge acquisition and creation in the long-term, with particular reference to international scientific collaborations. This book is a must-read for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in the prospects and challenges posed by the growth of the Chinese healthcare industry and its global impact.

Abstract: In the continuously developing world of modern medicine, traditional medicines have begun to lag behind and disappear from the medical community. However, in China, Traditional Chinese Medicine, (TCM,) continues to persist in the face of debates, societal and environmental changes as well as global condemnation. In spite of all this, the Chinese government has set up protective measures to defend TCM from these outside influences, but in doing so has harmed their credibility in the global theater. Critics of TCM say it should be destroyed because its lack of scientific explanations, however these critics have jumped to conclusions; it is currently impossible to say TCM is unscientific or not because of a lack of evidence. The laws and regulations surrounding TCM domestically have created an unscientific process of maintaining its continued appearance in the Chinese market, resulting in a lack of credible evidence. These lax regulations, while intended to protect the cultural relic that is TCM, have raised questions lately about the safety and efficacy of the medicine, adversely affecting the global opinion on the topic of traditional methods. The oral and experiential traditions of TCM can no longer be used as the answer to questions of TCM in a global society. In addition, TCM has become a means of soft power for the Chinese, albeit ineffective due to the lack of evidence for or against its continued existence. With the 1996 decision to Open up the FDA, China began to emphasize TCM as a viable means of soft power. However the failure of the resolution to get TCM on the American market and to give it a place of its own pushed TCM into a state of in-betweeness, where the west did not want it, and China did not want to take it back. In order to put TCM back into a respectable position while saving face for China, this thesis intends to analyze the problems TCM faces while providing a remedy to the 100 year long scar on the face of TCM.

The "First International Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Science, Regulation and Globalization" was held from August 30 to September 2, 2000 at the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland. There were approximately 250 participants from the Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States. This objective of this conference was to promote international collaboration for the modernization of Traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCM) and their introduction into the global health care system. It was mainly sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the NllI National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). It was organized by Dr. William Tai, then director of the Institute of Global Chinese Affairs at the University of Maryland and Dr. Yuan Lin, president of Marco Polo Technologies, Bethesda, MD. This conference was conceived by Dr. Tai two years earlier recognizing that this was an appropriate time and also the unique location of the University of Maryland. Today, there is a growing recognition of the of alternative medicine in modem societies and the rapid loss of importance knowledge about traditional methods for the treatment of the multitude of human illnesses found throughout the world. TCM has been in common use in China for thousands of years; and many of its formulations are well defined.

Argues that developments in biomedicine in China should be at the center of our understanding of biomedicine, not at the periphery

This book considers the key sectors of China's health care system after its entrance into the WTO, including the pharmaceutical industry, health insurance services, and hospitals in terms of policies, legal framework and market potential. It offers a critical analysis of the impact of the WTO and globalization on China's health care.

Medical ideas and practices originating in China became entangled in the activities of other places through processes of alteration once known as translatio. Recognition of differences provoked creative responses in Japan, the imperial court, and Enlightenment Europe.