The SCO Traditional Chinese Medicine Digital Health Committee made its debut at the 5th Western Smart Healthcare Conference, jointly charting a blueprint for the digital and intelligent development of TCM.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization Time  

On June 13, 2026, the Fifth Western China Smart Healthcare Conference—Taiyuan Station, themed “Digital Intelligence for China, Healthy Futures,” along with the Digital Health Exhibition, grandly opened in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Digital Health Working Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Multifunctional Economic and Trade Platform (hereinafter referred to as the SCO TCM Digital Health Committee) served as the conference’s primary co-organizer, playing a pivotal role in its planning and execution. Jiang Yanggang, a member of the committee’s board of directors, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote address, joining leading figures from across the national healthcare sector to discuss pathways for the digital transformation of TCM and explore new opportunities for international cooperation in smart healthcare.

This year’s conference is co-hosted by the Science and Technology Communication Branch of the China International Association for Promoting Science and Technology, the Organizing Committee of the Western Smart Healthcare Conference, and the Shanxi Provincial Association of Experts and Scholars. Grounded in the new starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it thoroughly implements the national “AI Plus” initiative and the strategic guidelines set forth in the “Healthy China 2030” Planning Outline. Focusing on the practical application of new‑type productive forces in the healthcare sector, the event builds an integrated platform for exchange and collaboration among government, industry, academia, research institutions, and end‑users. The conference brings together over a thousand representatives from leading institutions—including academicians and experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Peking University Third Hospital, and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University—as well as delegates from medical institutions at all levels, research institutes, and technology enterprises. Through one plenary forum, nine parallel thematic sessions, a digital‑intelligence health exhibition, and numerous ancillary events, the program comprehensively addresses issues spanning the entire value chain, including hospital digital transformation, AI‑driven clinical applications, innovation at the intersection of medicine and engineering, and medical data security.

As an authoritative service platform dedicated to the digital‑intelligent health sector of traditional Chinese medicine, the SCO Committee on Digital Health in TCM served as the primary co‑organizer and participated throughout the entire conference. In addition to assisting the organizing committee with publicity, event coordination, and resource matchmaking, the committee also mobilized numerous member institutions to exhibit and attend, showcasing cutting‑edge innovations in the digitalization of TCM and real‑world industry application cases. This significantly enhanced the conference’s professional standing in the field of TCM digitalization and its practical effectiveness in fostering industry‑academic collaboration.

In his address, Chairman Jiang Yanggang stated that the SCO Traditional Chinese Medicine Digital Health Committee, leveraging the resource advantages of the SCO’s economic and trade platform, has joined forces with China’s leading TCM institutions and digital‑intelligence technology enterprises to successfully establish an end‑to‑end ecosystem centered on medical services, underpinned by industrial supply, and driven by digital and intelligent technologies. This framework provides comprehensive resource matchmaking and technological empowerment to companies across the industry chain, as well as to medical institutions and research institutes. The Committee remains committed to advancing cross‑border health cooperation through project‑based initiatives, promoting the cross‑border flow of TCM diagnostic and treatment techniques, service standards, and industrial resources among SCO member states via joint talent development, the establishment of a digital‑enabled telemedicine system, and the co‑construction of an SCO International TCM Hospital, thereby working together to build a “Health Silk Road” that benefits the peoples of all participating countries.

Chairman Jiang Yanggang pointed out that, as a time-honored haven for health and wellness, Taiyuan’s hosting of this conference has injected strong momentum into the development of smart healthcare in central and western China. He extended a warm invitation to leaders and colleagues from all sectors to visit Chongqing—the site where the SCO Economic and Trade Platform is based—for on-site inspections and exchanges, to jointly discuss the grand vision of digital and intelligent development in traditional Chinese medicine, and expressed his keen anticipation that the next Western China Smart Healthcare Conference will be held in Chongqing. He emphasized that, by leveraging the SCO platform as a bridge, they hope to advance the internationalization of China’s smart healthcare standards, ensure that the “Western experience” benefits the world, and contribute to building a community of health for all humanity.

The SCO Committee on Digital Health and Traditional Chinese Medicine will further deepen cooperation with the central and western regions in the healthcare sector, break down barriers in technology, talent, and industry, and continuously unlock new drivers for the digital and intelligent development of TCM, thereby helping the healthcare industry in these regions advance to a new stage of high-quality growth.

(Contributed by the Platform’s Committee on Digital Intelligence in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Health)