Press Release

The ‘4th Conference for Wildlife Protection in Chinese Medicine 2026’ (the Conference), organised by the School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), and co-organised by the Coalition for Wildlife Protection in Traditional Chinese Medicine and ADM Capital Foundation, concluded successfully on 17 May 2026 (Sunday). The event attracted nearly 250 participants from academia and the industry. The Conference brought together top scholars, an official of the government of the HKSAR, and representatives from the Chinese medicine sector across Chinese Mainland, the United States, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, China to exchange insights in exploring the urgency of wildlife protection and the pivotal role of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) community in ecological conservation.

The opening ceremony was officiated by Professor Chak-sing Lau, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health) and Dean of Medicine, HKU; Professor Lao Lixing, Co-Chair of the 4th Conference for Wildlife Protection in Chinese Medicine 2026; Co-Chair of the Coalition for Wildlife Protection in TCM; President of the Virginia University of Integrative Medicine; Professor Feng Yibin, Co-Chair of the 4th Conference for Wildlife Protection in Chinese Medicine 2026; Professor and Former Director of the School of Chinese Medicine, HKU; Co-Director of the HKUMed Centre of Integrative Medicine, HKU; Professor Zhang Zhang-Jin, Director of the School of Chinese Medicine, HKU; Mr Li Ying-sang Tommy, Deputy to the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China; Chairman of Chinese Medicines Industry Subcommittee, Chinese Medicine Development Committee; President, Federation of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Chinese Medicines Traders Association; Mr Yu Zhibin, Director of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products; Mr Abraham Chan Yuling, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of PuraPharm.

The Conference was structured into three core sessions. The first two sessions focused on ‘Why We Need Wildlife Protection’ and ‘Chinese Medicine Application in Wildlife Protection,’ These sessions featured keynote speeches by Professor Yu Shi-Shan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, who spoke on ‘Research on the Therapeutic Substances and Creation of the Artificial Substitutes for Endangered Chinese Animal Medicinal Materials’; Professor Feng Yibin, presented on ‘Endangered Wildlife Protection: Research Update and Solutions’. Plenary speeches were delivered by Professor Lao Lixing, on ‘Wildlife Protection: Laws, Regulations, and Ethics in Traditional Chinese Medicine’, and Professor Wong Man-sau, Professor of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition and Director of the Research Centre for Chinese Medicine Innovation, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, on ‘Exploration of the Substitution Applications of Chinese Herbal Medicines and Nutrients for Endangered Wildlife Products’.

The third session included presentations from regional representatives from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, China on local conservation status and sustainability strategies, followed by a panel discussion led by Mr Abraham Chan Yuling, on ‘Challenges for Industry and Practitioners,’ providing critical references for the future development of the sector.

The ‘Conference for Wildlife Protection in Chinese Medicine’ was initiated by the Coalition for Wildlife Protection in TCM to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation among TCM practitioners, educators, herbal manufacturers, and researchers. Since its inaugural event in San Francisco in 2022, the Conference has served as a platform to advocate for sustainable practices within the global TCM community.

For more information on the latest developments of the School of Chinese Medicine, HKUMed, please visit:https://scm.hku.hk。