Hong Kong Has High Hopes to Go Global With Chinese Remedies

Inside Dr. To Shui-tong’s cramped clinic, thick with the musty aroma of ginseng, Ellen Law boasts that her freckles are fading.

Other women crane their necks to check the still-obvious spots but marvel at the 57-year-old Law’s nearly wrinkle-free skin.

These women have come to the traditional Chinese practitioner with a shared belief: Chinese herbal remedies may be less effective than Western drugs, but why not try them? They are touted as being milder, with fewer side effects.

“There are a lot of chemicals in Western medicines, and I’m worried about side effects,” Law says, sitting in a room full of jars of dried leaves, roots and fruits, coils of dried snakes, lizards mounted on bamboo sticks and several deer penises in mildewed glass cases.

Theories about Chinese medicines have yet to be scientifically proven, but sales of herbal remedies and tonics are rising as Hong Kong’s population grays and people in need of medicine worry that Western drugs could cause problems for them.

Eyeing the growing local market and looking for ways to jump-start its stagnant economy, the territory’s government recently rolled out a plan to develop into the world leader in producing and exporting herbal tonics and traditional medicines.

Officials hope to establish a system to grade and scientifically test Chinese medicines, giving them formal seals of approval and a better chance for overseas sales.

Businessmen are interested--the global market for herbal remedies was worth $16.8 billion in 1998. Hong Kong is a world-class money center, and China boasts expertise in the medicines, which some experts call a potent business combination.

But skeptics may outnumber optimists. They question whether the Chinese can peddle herbal medicines in a global market entrenched in orthodox Western medical philosophy and regulated by rigid international standards.

“The pace of development of medicines in different parts of the world obviously has been dramatically different,” said Dr. Hu Shilin, a professor of traditional Chinese medicine at Baptist University. “Globalization of anything that is not from mainstream medicine obviously is not going to be easy.”

Anyone who wants to sell medicines in the United States must meet Food and Drug Administration rules for documenting any claimed benefits in treating a specific health condition. The strict and elaborate scientific testing is expensive and takes many years.

Still, Chinese herbal products already sell well in the U.S.. Most herbal concoctions do not undergo FDA scrutiny because Congress passed a law in 1995 that lets such products sell virtually unregulated as long as they don’t make disease-specific claims.

For example, St. John’s wort is being studied to see if it can treat depression. But it already is sold as a dietary supplement because makers claim vague benefits such as “improving mood” or “improving well-being”--neither statement specifically addressing a disease.

The Chinese came to know their drugs through thousands of years of experience using concoctions of herbs and animal parts for their ailments. Documentation--until recent decades--came mainly in the form of compilations of case studies, where it existed at all.

The first modern Chinese traditional medicine hospital wasn’t opened until the 1950s. Since then, Chinese scholars have been trying to use modern scientific research methods to study and document their ancient healing arts.

Several Chinese pharmaceutical firms have tried to get herbal products licensed by the FDA. None has succeeded so far.

“Most Western doctors, especially those from the West who have never studied traditional Chinese medicine, believe Chinese medicines lack data from scientific research to back up their claims,” said Dr. Lam Ying-ming, an orthodox Western doctor who also is familiar with Chinese medicine.

There are more problems.

Drugs produced in China do not inspire confidence for many people. There, even soy sauce and cooking oil found in stores can be fake.

At To’s clinic, the traditional practitioner says many investors have asked him to package his herbal tea for over-the-counter sales. His business booms from morning until as late as midnight, but he turns down the investors.

“No way--not unless they can guarantee that my teas will not be counterfeited in the market. It’s my reputation,” To says.

That hasn’t deterred people from cashing in on To’s popularity. Boxes of tea bags bearing his name and picture--all fakes--have been found in Chinese communities in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Even if they push ahead, Chinese pharmaceutical firms can expect competition. Western scientists also are beginning to make drugs and tonics using all-natural ingredients for the herbal market, said Dr. Henry Yeung, vice chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Assn.

The Lee Kum Kee Group, Hong Kong’s leading condiment maker, is one of the companies betting on the old remedies. In 1992 it invested $38.5 million in a subsidiary, LKK Health Products Group, to research and produce health tonics now sold in Hong Kong and China.

“In the long run, we see huge potential in the global market,” said Harry Yeung, LKK’s product development director. “China has the expertise, and Hong Kong can handle the business front.”