To advance the development of Chinese medicine in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued in September 2020 the Construction Plan for the Chinese Medicine Highlands in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (2020-2025). Major measures related to practice of Chinese Medicine include: taking the opportunity of the development of the first Chinese medicine hospital (CMH) in Hong Kong to establish a GBA Chinese medicine consortium and CMH community; and encouraging Hong Kong CMPs to practise in Mainland public healthcare institutions.
At present, under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and its relevant supplementary agreements, Hong Kong permanent residents who are legally eligible to practice Chinese medicine in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) are allowed to provide short-term services in the Mainland, without sitting the Mainland's qualification examination. The maximum duration of the short-term practice is three years. On expiry, new application procedures should be made for renewing the short-term practice.
The HKSAR Government has been maintaining close liaison with the relevant Mainland authorities to follow up on the implementation of various measures favourable to the development of Chinese medicine in the GBA. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province announced on 30 August 2021, that Hong Kong CMPs would be recruited within 2021, on contract terms, by selected pilot sites of public Chinese medicine healthcare institutions in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The exact recruitment procedures, terms and conditions of employment would be determined and announced by the relevant healthcare institutions. The authorities would consider whether the scope of the pilot sites should be expanded, having regard to the actual implementation situation. For details, please refer to the website of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province: http://szyyj.gd.gov.cn/zwgk/gsgg/content/post_3500460.html
The above measure enables Hong Kong CMPs to further their practice within the national healthcare system, thereby promoting exchanges in Chinese medicine and providing Hong Kong CMPs, in particular the younger generation, with the opportunity to pursue development in the GBA.