Clinical practice proved traditional Chinese medicine has significant efficacy in treating the novel coronavirus pneumonia, a top official with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine said on Friday.

Yu Yanhong, Party chief and deputy head of the administration, said among more than 50,000 patients recovered and discharged from hospitals, the majority of them were treated with traditional Chinese medicine, proving a combined use of TCM and Western medicine was effective.

Studies by several expert teams have found that compared with using western medicine alone, the combined use of TCM and modern medicine can quickly relieve fever, cough, fatigue and other symptoms, shorten hospitalization days and reduce the rate of deterioration, she said.

In a comparative experiment with 452 patients, the group of patients receiving combined treatment showed higher rate of improvement than the group treated with Western medicine alone, and another clinical research test of 500 patients demonstrated no patient with mild symptoms had worsened, she said.

TCM has also shown a positive effect on improving blood oxygen saturation and inhibiting overproduction of immune cells on critically patients, she said, adding the National Health Commission and the administration have set up 12 expert teams in Wuhan, Hubei province to further promote the combined treatment of TCM and western medicine.

Yu said TCM has unique theories and practices in preventing and controlling plagues. At the early stage of an epidemic, when vaccines or specific drugs have not been developed, TCM's rich experience and technologies can help boost the body's overall immunity and stimulate its ability for recovery and disease resistance.

"Unlike Western medicine, TCM focuses on enhancing the body's own resistance and restorative ability, as well as maintaining an overall inner balance. This makes it useful in treating infectious diseases when vaccines and specific drugs are absent," she said.

When an epidemic breaks out, TCM has an advantage of rapid response, and a TCM treatment plan can be determined quickly by collecting and analyzing symptoms, she said.

TCM plays an important role in the overall treatment plan of COVID-19 and is applied during the entire process of treatment and rehabilitation, Yu said.

Patients with mild symptoms were prescribed with TCM recipes in the earliest manner. Patients with severe and critical symptoms were treated with both medicines and recovered patients would receive acupuncture and acupressure for a quicker recovery, she added.

Yu said experts have done primary research on nearly 100 discharged patients, many of whom had been critically ill and were cured with TCM alone. The research is still in progress and they will release more results at a later time.

"We are willing to share the Chinese experience in treating the novel coronavirus pneumonia with TCM and let more countries know about Chinese medicine," she added.