At the heart of traditional Chinese medicine's integration with Western medicine is further improving and demonstrating TCM's efficacy, said a prominent medical expert on Wednesday.

While a widely acknowledged strength of TCM is its ability to regulate overall state of the body and promoting whole-body health, it is critical to tap into TCM's potential in precisely targeting disease causes, said Tong Xiaolin, academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

To this end, Tong suggested making full use of TCM pharmacology research outcomes to increase its ability to target illnesses directly.

"Some targeted TCM therapies that treat elevated antibody levels in patients with Type 1 diabetes or the Hashimoto's disease (an autoimmune disorder that affects thyroid gland) have already become available, and shown potential in making up for shortcomings of modern medicine," he added.

Tong, also head of the National Medical Center for Integration of Chinese Traditional and Western Medicine based at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, spoke on the sideline of the 2024 World Conference on Traditional Medicine held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday.

As TCM is rapidly gaining popularity in China and overseas, Tong also suggested ramping up collaboration between companies, education institutes and research centers to apply latest research outcomes and meet rising demands from the public.

To further expand reach of TCM to better benefit the world, Tong suggested nurturing multidisciplinary talents who are both capable of popular TCM therapies and fluent in foreign languages.

"TCM is one of the best carriers of Chinese culture and represents an important outlet for China to enhance its communication with the rest of the world," he added.