China is to hold its first exhibition on traditional medicine of ethnic groups in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, in September.

The exhibition is to display medical products made by minority pharmaceutical companies along with other Chinese pharmacies and Western medicine, according to Yu Deshui, executive deputy director and secretary general of the China National Health Association of Ethnic Nationality.

"The exhibition will boost the exchange of information among different ethnic groups, especially in the area of health care," said Yun Xiumei, deputy director of the association.

China has abundant medical resources in minority-inhabited areas. These regions are home to more than 8,000 traditional medicines, accounting for nearly two thirds of the total traditional Chinese medicine resources.

Traditional medicine of the ethnic groups have often come in handy for low-income families as some of the recipes have been tested by generations and ingredients can easily be found in the wild.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2008)