The Forum on 2018 Chinese Medicine Culture Development was held on Thursday in Beijing as an important part of the fifth annual conference of the Taihu World Cultural Forum.

The gathering focused on: "Traditional medicine and human health, building a community of shared future for mankind".

Chairman of the forum Yan Zhaozhu conveyed President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the forum and wished the event success.

Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmedov considered traditional Chinese medicine to be historic and informative. "Chinese medicine is abundant in what it can treat," Ahmedov said. "It contains both old Chinese philosophy as well as its values."

Wang Yongyan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, gave a speech about the development of traditional Chinese medicine at the forum, followed by a dialogue about how traditional Chinese medicine builds a community of shared future for mankind.

The inauguration ceremony of the Palace Museum Research Institute's Chinese Medicine Culture Study Research Institute was also held during the forum.

Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, said he is looking forward to combining the Palace Museum and traditional Chinese medicine.

"We have 1.86 million pieces of historical relics, and we are short-handed on staff to research them all. Among them, the Palace Museum has about 3,300 objects that are related to traditional Chinese medicine including Chinese herbal medicine, implements and prescriptions," said Shan.

"We have 231 categories of cultural relics in total," said Shan, who hoped the masters and researchers of Chinese medicine could help with research in this category.

The Palace of Eternal Longevity, refitted two years ago, will serve as the exhibition hall for traditional Chinese medicine, which will present cultural relics and research works.

"We don't want our cultural relics to sleep in the warehouse, but let them have a colorful history and a dignified present, as well as a healthy future," Shan said.

Lyu Aiping, president of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University, thinks that establishing a Chinese Medicine Culture Study Research Institute within the Palace Museum Research Institute is a farsighted decision.

"To spread Chinese medicine, we should spread its culture first," said Lyu. "If we can combine the scientific value and theoretical value of the cultural relics of the Palace Museum, its potential to spread is infinite.

"The power will bring the scientific elements of Chinese medicine to the whole world," Lyu said.