BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Artificial intelligence is transforming traditional medicine worldwide, with China leading global patent filings for related applications, an industry report released Sunday showed.
While digital technologies expand clinical capacity and heritage preservation, the sector still faces technical and governance hurdles, according to the report publicized at the World Conference on Traditional Medicine 2026 in Beijing.
"Overall, AI-enabled traditional medicine has moved beyond the conceptual stage," said Qin Huaijin, vice chair and secretary-general of the Global Alliance for Traditional and Integrative Medicine.
He noted global governance frameworks are taking shape: major economies and regional bodies are advancing cooperation on traditional medicine alongside AI governance. In tandem with advances in general artificial intelligence, applications are expanding from standalone functions into full clinical workflows.
The World Health Organization has identified digital and intelligent technologies as critical to the safe, effective and sustainable development of traditional medicine.
Since 2000, 3,030 patents for AI applications in traditional medicine have been published worldwide. China accounts for 80.4 percent of published patents and 84.2 percent of granted patents, according to the report.
Major economies including China, India and the Republic of Korea have integrated AI applications for traditional medicine into national health and science strategies. China's 2026-2030 development plan calls for wider adoption of smart technologies in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the creation of high-quality datasets.
TCM diagnosis relies on four core approaches: observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and pulse-taking. AI-powered four-diagnosis devices help objectify and standardize diagnostic data.
"AI-enabled traditional medicine has delivered tangible applications across multiple sectors, moving from isolated trials to more systematic, coordinated use," said Chen Jianxin, a professor at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. He highlighted three advances: quantifiable tongue and pulse readings, computable TCM theories, and faster drug screening.
"AI-assisted diagnosis could make TCM diagnostic information more objective and quantifiable, reducing subjectivity in manual assessment," said TCM expert Huang Luqi, also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
AI also boosts grassroots healthcare delivery. For underserved communities, AI-driven digital twin robots, cloud pulse diagnosis and remote consultations extend quality care beyond geographical boundaries.
"Data-powered syndrome models help grassroots doctors get reliable guidance for diagnosis and treatment, bringing more consistent, accurate TCM care at the local level," Huang said.
Beyond clinical applications, AI offers new ways to preserve and make use of traditional medical knowledge.
Li Haiyan, head of the Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine under the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said a national digital library of TCM classics developed by the institute is helping move ancient medical texts beyond digital preservation toward broader applications. The library provides traditional knowledge resources for AI training, knowledge graph development and AI-assisted education.
Despite its potential, AI applications in traditional medicine face several challenges, the report says.
A semantic gap remains between the experience-based language of traditional medicine and the standardized, quantitative data required by AI systems, it explains, adding that the reliability and explainability of AI models in traditional medicine need to be improved, while digitized traditional knowledge faces the risk of unauthorized extraction and reuse.
Zhu Shan, an associate professor at Beijing International Studies University focusing on international communication of TCM, noted that large language models can generate fluent foreign-language texts yet may overlook TCM's pathological logic and cultural nuances.
Standardization efforts are underway. In late 2025, the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies issued guidelines for international TCM terminology translation. China has also rolled out national standards for English translation of TCM terms, laying a consistent linguistic foundation for global exchanges.
The report calls for unified coding standards for datasets, cross-disciplinary professionals, and global governance mechanisms balancing data security and knowledge sharing.
"In my hospital, all medical documents must undergo review by physicians to mitigate risks from automated translation," said Zhang Ming, executive president of Amcare in Beijing. ■
