More efforts should be made to improve public awareness and acceptance of TCM whose role in securing public health has long been overlooked, top political advisers suggested.

"It is imperative for the government to include TCM culture in compulsory curricula and at the same time broaden and deepen the general public's perception of the essence of TCM," said Du Wei, a member of the CPPCC National Committee. "It is high time for Chinese citizens to form an unbiased view about the value of TCM in contemporary living, and to abandon misunderstandings of TCM drugs and TCM therapies."