Significant potential exists in market for traditional Chinese medicine

 TAIPEI -- Traditional Chinese medicine has great potential in the health care market among the middle-aged and seniors on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as people in both Taiwan and China hold the view that herbal remedies are "less harmful" than Western medicine, a local expert said yesterday. A majority of people on both sides of the Strait think Chinese medicine is better than Western, said Hubert Chih, a researcher at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's most prestigious research and development organization.In China, nearly 80 percent of people aged over 50 consider Chinese medicine to be harmless, while the figure in Taiwan is 59 percent, Chih said at a forum on the topic, citing the results of a June survey by the ITRI's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center.Although most middle-aged and elderly people in Taiwan (90 percent) and China (82 percent) still go to a Western doctor when they need medical treatment, they tend to consider Chinese medicine when it comes to overall health and well-being, Chih said.In Chinese culture, people tend to use either food or herbal medicine to improve their health, he told the CNA on the sidelines of the forum. Taiwanese middle-aged and elderly people are willing to spend nearly NT$2,000 (US$68.74) per month on health food, massages and diet supplements, while those in China spend over NT$2,500, according to the survey results.The survey was conducted in June through visits and street interviews with randomly selected people aged over 50. A total of 4,800 valid samples were collected and the survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.