"There are no specific drugs in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, but Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment has achieved remarkable results in containing the epidemic," Wang Jie, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee told the media via online video calls before the opening session on Thursday.

At the beginning of the outbreak in Wuhan, the TCM experts came to Wuhan to help control the epidemic. An 83-year-old COVID-19 patient was in worse situation initially; but after receiving treatment by the TMC medical team, the patient's condition stabilized, and then discharged from hospital.

Her family was so moved and sent a letter of thanks to the medical team. "That was one touching story," Wang said, adding that by March 30, 140 out of 158 COVID-19 patients had recovered and were discharged from the hospital, and among the 140 recovered ones, 88 were treated purely with TCM.

Wang noted that TCM makes use of its system and gives patients a short-term diagnosis and a good treatment experience when there are no specific drugs in the world. That is the great charm of TCM. However, we should rethink TCM's inheritance and innovation.

"We believe if TCM can inherit its essence and keep innovating, we can use it well in the clinical treatments," Wang suggested.