(Photo/People's Daily Online)

In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has spread overseas and had more influence around the world.

The TCM is not only the treasure of China, but also the common wealth of the people all over the world, said Csaba Hende, deputy speaker of Hungary's parliament, at the 16th World Congress of Chinese Medicine held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary earlier this month.

Hende added that the Chinese concept of preventing diseases is full of wisdom and well worth learning by other countries, including Hungary.

In recent years, the TCM community in Hungary has actively promoted the TCM in the local area. The first Confucius Institute for Chinese Medicine in Central and Eastern Europe was unveiled at the University of Pécs in Hungary in 2015.

In the same year, the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources issued relevant regulations on the qualifications of TCM practitioners, laying a legal foundation for the practice of TCM in Hungary.

The TCM is believed to play a more important role in Central and Eastern Europe, even the globe, said many TCM experts at the event.

By now, China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 40 countries, regions and organizations and established several hundred TCM institutions in about 30 countries and regions.

Chinese and Western medicine, with strengths of their own, are able to coexist in harmony and complement each other, according to many attendees of the conference.

The congress, organized by the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies and hosted by the Central and Eastern European TCM Association and the Hungarian TCM Association, has drawn nearly 800 TCM experts and practitioners from over 30 countries and regions.