BEIJING - The Chinese government put about 6 billion yuan ($948 million) from central financial budgets toward boosting the development of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry, nearly tripling that of 2010.

More than 4 billion yuan was used to support services in 1,814 TCM hospitals, including 88 in the less-developed western regions, Vice Health Minister Wang Guoqiang said at a TCM meeting on Tuesday.

Another 1 billion yuan was used to build 70 county-level TCM hospitals, and the rest was spent on supporting TCM-related clinical projects and passing down TCM knowledge.

By investing a total of 17.3 billion yuan in the TCM industry over the past three years, the country supported 16 state-level TCM research centers and 313 key TCM hospitals and promoted TCM, Wang said.

However, Wang noted that the country's TCM industry still faces many difficulties and problems, such as a lack of leading TCM professionals and slow academic progress.

"The TCM service system, especially at the county level, still has room for improvement, and the TCM authorities' administrative abilities and management level need to be enhanced," Wang added.

Traditional Chinese medicine is the result of thousands of years of knowledge, and includes various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and dietary therapies.