Huaihua is known as the hometown of authentic Chinese medicinal herbs, boasting 2,340 varieties of medicinal resources with a total planting area of 1.698 million mu (approximately 106,533 hectares). Both its medicinal herb resources and planting area rank first in Hunan Province. Major varieties include Polygonati Rhizoma, Poria cocos, Lonicerae flos, Gastrodia tuber, Lilium brownii, Sinomenii caulis, Cinnamomum camphora, and Uncaria rhynchophylla. It holds eight honorary titles, including “Hometown of Chinese Polygonati Rhizoma”, and eight national geographical indication products for medicinal herbs, including Jingzhou Poria cocos. There are 23 authentic medicinal herb varieties, one authentic medicinal herb brand, and six ecological medicinal herb brands. Currently, there are 419 nationally approved drug production licenses, including 204 drug licenses and 215 hospital preparations.
In 2025, the total output value of the TCM industry chain in Huaihua reached 34.26 billion yuan. The city currently has 87 leading TCM agricultural industrialization enterprises at the municipal level or above, including 2 national-level enterprises and 78 enterprises above the designated size. Several scientific research and innovation platforms are located in Huaihua, including Academician Liu Liang’s Research Station, the World Academy of Sciences Vice President Iqbal’s Research Station, the Hunan Provincial Modern TCM Pharmaceutical Process Technology Innovation Center, the China-Pakistan TCM Cooperation Center, and the National TCM Homogenization Industry Science and Technology Innovation Alliance TCM Industry Research Institute. Huaihua has formulated and released ISO international standards for Sinomenii Caulis and Poria cocos, and is the only TCM preparation pilot-scale production base in western Hunan, dedicated to building a cluster of primary processing and distribution markets for advantageous single-variety TCM materials such as Polygonati Rhizoma and Poria cocos.
Key enterprises: Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical Hunan Company, Zhengqing Pharmaceuticals Co., Busky Pharmaceuticals Co., Boshikang Traditional Chinese Medicine Co., Hongyuan Pharmaceuticals Co., Longcheng Traditional Chinese Medicine Co., Wuxi Pharmaceuticals Co., Hunan Linong Gallnut Co., Kangrun Agricultural Co., Guoling Technology Co., Zhenghao Pharmaceuticals Co., etc.
Development priorities: building “one center and two hubs”, namely, a regional medical center for traditional Chinese medicine in southern China, a regional medical center for the border areas of five provinces, and a distribution and trading center for traditional Chinese medicine facing ASEAN.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
(1) Poria cocos (2) Polygonati rhizoma (3) Lilium brownii
(4) Lonicerae flos (5) Sinomenii caulis (6) Gastrodia tuber