The third Chinese Medicine Cultural Congress took place on Sept 21 and 22 in Neiqiu county, Xingtai city, Hebei province, the hometown of Bian Que (407-310 BC), a famous physician in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

A total of around 1,100 people attended the meeting, covering principals of traditional Chinese medicine universities and hospital directors around the country, delegates from health enterprises, as well as experts, scholars and representatives from biomedical communities overseas. Themed lectures, seminars, forums and other activities such as visiting the Bian Que Temple were held during the congress.

Chen Changzhi, former vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said at the congress that during recent years China's TCM industry has achieved fruitful results in industry development, talent training and external exchanges, while acknowledging that the TCM industry has problems such as an inadequate supply of high-quality TCM services and weaknesses in inheritance and innovation.

The congress also announced a declaration which proposes that the power of the whole society shall be mobilized to advocate for TCM culture and the industry, to improve human health and to promote the fusion of TCM with advanced global technology.