Statement by the AU Commission Chairperson, HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma On the occasion of the Opening ceremony of the Beijing Tong Ren Tang Arica Company 16 November 2016, Johannesburg Madam Ding Youngling, General Manager of the Beijing Tong Ren Tang Africa Comrades and friends Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen I am pleased to be at the opening of the offices of the Beijing Tong Ren Tang Africa company, and to warmly welcome the company to our beautiful and bountiful continent. This is indeed an example of the China-Africa partnership in action. Less than a year ago, we hosted the Forum for China African Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg, where investments in public health was identified as one of the priorities of our partnership. Beijing Tong Ren Tang Africa, as we see from the company brochure, is a company that has been in existence since 1669. Our health systems and medical professional can learn a lot from the philosophy of Chinese medicine of treating the whole human being, and its four foundations of diet, exercise, adequate rest and relaxation, and a good mental attitude. These four foundations, which in our hectic lifestyles of today are so often neglected, are important from childhood, and we must ensure that they are incorporated into public education from an early age. Healthy lifestyles, including the food we eat, have an impact on a range of diseases that affect our communities today. The focus of Chinese medicine on prevention, rather than only treatment, can therefore means massive savings for our health systems. This is unfortunately also reflected in the training of our health workers today, modelled on the Western system that increasingly focus on medicines for long-term treatment rather than prevention. This emphasis on treatment also means that we focus narrowly on one aspect of the body, and not the human being as a whole. Recording of the successes and case studies of Chinese medication has been a key to the success of the technologies; this is a key to its successes, which we Africans can learn from. This is also the case as it relates to patenting the medications and methods, another key lesson for Africa, as we continue to battle to register our own methods and medicines. The University of the Western Cape’s website, notes that ‘Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture is the world’s second largest medical system, serving more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. It is fully incorporated into the public health systems of China and Japan. Chinese Medicine is the only medical system in world history to be based on a significant catalogue of recorded case histories: no less than 2000 years of written case histories make Chinese Medicine the great system it is. It comprises of knowledge-base that has been uninterruptedly analysed, reflected on and expanded by centuries of some of the world’s finest medical minds right up to the present day. The fact that a company such as TongRenTang has survived for over three hundred years, is testimony to this philosophy and the benefits it can have for public and community health. Of course, part of the tragedy confronting African traditional systems and medications is that they have not been appropriately recorded, thus subjecting them to limited authentication process. Where authentication is possible, these have been unfortunately patented outside and not to the benefit of the continent, thus our drive to record African knowledge systems. As we warmly welcome TongRen Tang to Africa, we look forward to engaging and sharing information and knowledge, and working towards healthy lifestyles and health for all. I thank you.