The National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials in Southwest China (hereinafter referred to as the Center) was approved for construction in October 2016 by the National Development and Reform Commission.

The Center’s development focuses on the fact that Southwest China is the region with the richest resources of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the country and is one of China’s most important authentic and traditional production areas for medicinal materials. In response to the urgent technical needs in varietal development, ecological cultivation, and productization of TCM, the Center carries out technological innovation and industrialization in germplasm innovation, ecological planting, and product development, promoting the sustainable and healthy development of both national and regional TCM industries.

Taking advantage of the national push for modernization of TCM and Yunnan Province’s strong support for the biopharmaceutical and wellness industries, the Center leverages the abundant medicinal plant resources of Southwest China to address key and common technical bottlenecks in TCM industrial development. It undertakes targeted technological breakthroughs, achieving significant progress in germplasm innovation, ecological cultivation, and product development, thereby providing strong technological support for accelerating innovation in the TCM industry.

The Center's core mission is to serve Yunnan, radiate to the broader Southwest region, and serve the entire country, becoming a nationally influential engineering research center in the field of TCM germplasm innovation and utilization. It aims to become a research base for the industrialization of TCM technologies, a demonstration base for research, and a training base for high-level, high-quality professionals. The Center plays a bridging and linking role in advancing technological innovation in China’s TCM industry and promoting its high-quality development.

Focusing on key and common technical challenges in TCM production, the Center emphasizes the development of supporting R&D platforms, the formation of innovative teams, and the cultivation of technical talent. It prioritizes the construction of its engineering support platform, the development of innovation teams, and the training of professionals, providing strong platform support for the integration of the university’s strength disciplines into the national technology innovation system.

Leveraging the region’s rich TCM resources, the Center has established China’s first medicinal plant genomics database and successfully built a cell factory for the total biosynthesis of breviscapine in yeast—the first successful case in China of linking genomics to natural product biosynthesis. By promoting a “variety-based quality” approach to TCM through a varietal system, the Center has developed a breeding technology system focused on quality, making it the leading institution in China in the development of new medicinal plant varieties.

The Center has also promoted high-quality varieties and cultivation practices for TCM in plateau and mountainous regions, establishing and applying integrated systems of superior varieties and cultivation techniques, which have generated significant economic, ecological, and social benefits. The medicinal plant genomics database and the biosynthesis technology for breviscapine have both reached internationally leading standards.

图1中心创新完成的灯盏花素生物合成

图2中心技术支撑建设的灯盏花规范化种植基地

图3 以中心为支撑建设的三七品种选育基地

图4中心支撑建设的林下西洋参有机基地