The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology's Vice Minister Shang Yong and visiting Italian Health Minister Livia Turco have signed an MOU on building a joint lab for traditional Chinese medicine.
The signing ceremony was joined by Dai Xianglong, Mayor of Tianjin Municipality, and Shang said that the Chinese and Italian sides should take this lab as a base to develop Chinese medicine by integrating TCM with systematic biology and modern biotechnologies, and to get registered in the European Union for embedding TCM research into the EU 7th Framework Programme. He said that MOST would back any R&D activities of this lab with all efforts.
Minister Turco said that the Italian side would work with the Chinese partners, integrate the science resources from the business, research and education communities and facilitate the lab in R&D and registration of new medicines in the EU.
The amount of investment each side would pour into the venture has not yet been disclosed.
