China and France will enhance cooperation in traditional medicine next year, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM) has said.

An agreement to the effect will be signed at the beginning of next year the press office of SATCM said.

SATCM head She Jing and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy discussed the agreement on the phone earlier this week.

Douste-Blazy said a number of French institutes had rich experiences in the study of herbs and the making of traditional medicine. He hoped that the two countries would cooperate in the commercial production of traditional medicine.

The French minister said he would send his adviser on Asian affairs to China in mid-December to work on the agreement.

In October, experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and French universities and government departments attended a conference in Paris, where they discussed major public health issues, drug registration and the protection of intellectual property rights for traditional Chinese medicine.

Before the conference, Douste-Blazy met with Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili to discuss the cooperation.