Liu made the remarks while meeting with representatives from the TCM industry Friday.

China should improve scientific and technical support for TCM, educate more TCM professionals, and set up regulations, policies, management systems and evaluation systems for the industry, Liu said.

The Law on Traditional Chinese Medicine will go into effect on July 1.

With a history of more than 2,000 years, TCM is seen by many as a national treasure in China for its unique theories and practices, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and dietetics.

There are 482,000 TCM doctors in China now.