Relying on the authentic Chinese medicinal herb resources of Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province, local TCM companies are actively engaging the Macau market. A number of Jilin enterprises, focused on upgrading quality and expanding internationally, have proactively participated in Macau’s stringent product certification systems, exploring new pathways into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and global markets. Recently, this effort achieved a key breakthrough—Jilin Tongtai Industrial Group’s original brand “Jiu Shen Guan” (Nine-Ginseng Official) black ginseng series health supplements passed multiple rounds of Macau departmental review and officially obtained local production certification. It became the first in Jilin Province—and currently the only known ginseng enterprise nationwide—to secure Macau production qualification.
Product certification in Macau is known for high standards and rigorous processes. The “Jiu Shen Guan” black ginseng series underwent basic qualification verification, microbiological and toxic substance testing, packaging compliance checks, and other strict screening procedures, and its approval not only signals that Changbai Mountain-sourced authentic medicinal herbs are officially admitted into the Macau market, but also builds an important bridge for Jilin—and even national—ethnic health supplement brands to expand overseas.
While Tongtai Industrial breaks through the Macau market access barrier, more Jilin TCM companies are accelerating their layout in Macau and the Greater Bay Area. In May this year, Dongfanghong American Ginseng Pharmaceuticals (Tonghua) Co., Ltd., together with Tongtai Group, participated in the Jilin-Hong Kong-Macau trade exchange and Changbai Mountain ginseng promotion event. During that time they held multiple pragmatic talks with the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Manufacturers Association on exporting ginseng products to Southeast Asia and other Asia-Pacific markets, reaching cooperation intentions. Currently, the company has established sales outlets in Macau; thanks to stable product quality its brand has accumulated a certain market share locally, becoming an important representative of Jilin’s TCM products entering Macau’s everyday consumer scene.
At the January “Jilin-Hong Kong-Macau Ginseng Industry Exchange” this year, Lishen Pharmaceuticals (Jilin) Co., Ltd. also clearly expressed the intention to collaborate in the TCM industry with Macau and other locales. The related cooperation projects are currently in progress. This company is a “specialised, refined, distinctive, innovative” enterprise deeply engaged in ginseng deep-processing in Jilin, with more than 200 product varieties. Its red ginseng honey paste, among others, has been certified under the “Changbai Mountain Ginseng” brand. From established sales channels to cooperation intentions, Jilin’s TCM enterprises are traversing multiple paths to deepen into the Macau market, forming a favourable development trend of “benchmark guidance + multiple-point efforts.”
The gradual opening of the Macau market for these companies stems from Jilin enterprises’ long-term commitment to quality. Taking “Jiu Shen Guan” as an example: its raw materials are strictly selected from a 3,200-hectare ginseng base certified under the national “Three No One Complete” standard, ensuring authenticity from the source; the production process integrates the intangible-cultural-heritage method “nine-steamed nine-sun-dried” with modern biotechnologies, enhancing value through deep processing; at the R&D end, it has established deep cooperation with Macau University of Science and Technology and national key TCM laboratories, fortifying the product’s scientific basis and safety. These practices also provide valuable experiences for other Jilin companies accessing the Macau market.
As a representative product bearing TCM culture, the “Jiu Shen Guan” black ginseng gaining Macau qualification is both a milestone for the enterprise and a microcosm of Jilin’s ethnic health-brand “going global.” A relevant person in charge at Tongtai Industrial Group stated that going forward they will use Macau as a hub, radiating the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and gradually explore global deployment. In the future, Jilin Province will continue to support more home-grown TCM enterprises in connecting with Macau and international markets, allowing more products embodying the Changbai Mountain characteristics and core of TCM culture to step onto the international stage, aiding the internationalisation of TCM cultural dissemination.
