Officials, experts eye greater China-Indonesia cooperation on medicinal plants

HAIKOU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Officials and experts at an international conference in China have said they are looking forward to seeing more medicinal plant conservation and research cooperation between China and Indonesia.

On Friday, about 50 delegates from the two countries attended the fourth session of the joint committee of the China-Indonesia medicinal plants conservation, research and innovation base, which was held in Haikou, the capital of south China's Hainan Province.

The delegates discussed the construction of the base and the focus of upcoming work, and promoted the transformation of scientific research cooperation and the coordination of standards between the two sides.

The base's current construction area exceeds 30 hectares. Work on the project is progressing steadily and is expected to be completed officially in October, according to Deputy Minister for Coordination of Environment and Forestry Management of Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Nani Hendiarti.

Chen Shuai, deputy director general of Department of International Cooperation at China's National Development and Reform Commission, expressed the hope that the two countries' scientific research institutions and pharmaceutical enterprises with R&D and innovation capabilities will continue to carry out systematic medicinal plant R&D, and constantly improve technical levels in their application of medicinal resources.

Research institutions in the two countries will deepen cooperation on research related to the quality standards of medicinal materials, strengthen mutual learning related to those quality standards, and strengthen research on policies and regulations, according to the session.

The meeting also saw the release of an initiative related to strengthening cooperation on research concerning medical materials standards.