Building sustainability into the Belt and Road Initiative’s Traditional Chinese Medicine trade

Amy Hinsley (), E. J. Milner-Gulland, Rosie Cooney, Anastasiya Timoshyna, Xiangdong Ruan and Tien Ming Lee ()
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Amy Hinsley: University of Oxford
E. J. Milner-Gulland: University of Oxford
Rosie Cooney: Australian National University
Anastasiya Timoshyna: David Attenborough Building
Xiangdong Ruan: National Forestry and Grassland Administration
Tien Ming Lee: Sun Yat-sen University

Nature Sustainability, 2020, vol. 3, issue 2, 96-100

Abstract: Abstract A little-known aim of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is ‘people-to-people cultural exchange’, including active promotion of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in BRI countries. On a global scale, this is likely to increase both TCM demand and the sourcing of wildlife-based TCM ingredients from new areas. Any rapid increase in wildlife demand risks exacerbating illegal and unsustainable trade but, with careful management, BRI–TCM could also present opportunities for well-governed supply chains, creating sustainable livelihoods for rural harvesters. With China reaching out to BRI countries to cooperate on the marketing, registration and promotion of TCM products, there is now a critical short-term window for the identification of these risks and opportunities, and to ensure that sustainability is built into these markets from the start.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-019-0460-6

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