An artist’s impression of the giant new China Northern Traditional Chinese Medicine Market. [Photo/MY399.COM]

Harbin in China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province plans to turn the old Huanan City TCM market in its Daowai district into the largest traditional Chinese medicine market in China, according to local officials.
 
The newly established China Northern Traditional Chinese Medicine Market aims to integrate herb planting, processing, medicine research, development and sales, as well as Chinese medicine themed cultural promotion. Local officials said it is committed to reaching a market size of 100 billion yuan ($14.15 billion). 
 
The market will be operated by Heilongjiang Qitai Pharmaceutical Logistics Distribution Co Ltd.
 
Advantages
 
Heilongjiang is located in China’s the cold temperate zone, with large temperature differences between day and night, sufficient sunlight and fertile soil.
 
It has a long tradition of cultivating and planting Chinese medicine, stretching back to ancient times. There are more than 100 kinds of authentic medicinal materials native to Heilongjiang, with the industry producing them having an annual output estimated at 300,000 tons.

Among Heilongjiang’s Chinese medicine varieties is Qing'an ginseng, Tieping bulbus fritillariae ussuriensis, Tonghe Schisandra and Yilan chishao. Then there is Linkou radix astragali, Datong indigowoad root, Lindian radix bupleuri, Hailin radix et caulis acanthopanacis senticosi and Hailun evening primrose – all representing the top quality that is produced in the province.
 
In addition, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine ranks first in the discipline of traditional Chinese medicine in the country.
 
Development layout
 
The construction of the market will be divided into three phases, with the first phase covering a total area of 120,000 square meters.
 
Planned facilities include a trading venue with a total construction area of 30,000 sq m; a 60,000 sq m Chinese medicinal material storage area that equipped with automatic temperature control and humidity control equipment, rodent control equipment, freight elevators; and a Chinese herbal medicine drying area and other auxiliary function areas covering an area of 20,000 sq m.
 
In addition to the buildout of the infrastructure, the market will hire professional technicians for the quality management of Chinese herbal medicines, provide guidelines for standardized storage and maintenance of Chinese herb medicines and interpret the quality standards of medicinal materials.
 
It will establish an information display platform, which will enter the information of the resident  enterprises on its trading system and directly publish them online, as well as display real-time price and quality inventory information of China’s major medicinal materials trading markets.
 
The market’s second phase will cover an area of 300,000 sq m, with a construction area of 120,000 sq m.
 
It will focus on the establishment of herb processing plants and authentic medicinal materials production bases, forming a traceable system involving herb planting, processing and sales.
It will aim to improve traditional Chinese medicine testing services, with a system estimated to cover more than 90 percent of the medicines included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
 
The market’s third phase will cover an area of 300,000 sq m, with a construction area of 120,000 sq m.
 
The third construction phase will target improving the market’s functions and regional influence.
 
It will build the biggest medicinal plant cultivation and display attraction of the three provinces in the Northeast China region, build a theme park of traditional Chinese medicine, construct a high-end nursing home with traditional Chinese medicine health methods and a workstation for scientific researchers.