A pharmacist fulfills a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) prescription at Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Bin)

A total of 491.6 tonnes of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs were exported from northwest China's Gansu Province in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 45.9 percent, according to Lanzhou Customs.

The total export value of these medicinal herbs in the first six months of 2022 neared 21.24 million yuan (about 3.15 million U.S. dollars), up 57.8 percent year on year, with the Republic of Korea and Vietnam being the leading importers.

A green channel was established to speed up customs clearance for traditional Chinese medicinal herbs in order to meet the high international demand, noted Zhang Taiheng, head of the Tianshui Customs, affiliated with Lanzhou Customs.

Gansu is a major traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) production base in China and has a long history of growing TCM herbs.

In recent years, the Belt and Road Initiative has given a new boom to TCM. The province has set up several TCM centers in countries and regions along the Belt and Road, including France, Hungary and Thailand, providing medical services to local people.