Hakka Medicine’s High-Tech Revival: From Ancient Lore to Global Markets

MEIZHOU, GUANGDONG – December 10, 2025 – Late last month, as global Hakka entrepreneurs gathered in Meizhou, the proclaimed “World Hakka Capital,” the spotlight wasn’t just on finance or technology in the conventional sense. It was on a potent fusion of the two: the industrial-scale revival of Hakka medicine. Here, companies like Guangdong Jiaying Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. showcased not just ancient remedies, but a sophisticated business blueprint for transforming centuries-old heritage into a modern, globally competitive pharmaceutical enterprise.

This movement represents more than cultural preservation; it’s a strategic pivot, leveraging data, modern manufacturing, and savvy market analysis to unlock the commercial value of traditional wisdom. As businesses worldwide seek to integrate wellness into their offerings, the journey of Hakka medicine from regional folklore to regulated, mass-produced products provides a compelling case study in market innovation and disruption.

From Ancient Scrolls to Smart Factories

The core challenge for any traditional medicine seeking modern relevance is bridging the gap between historical formulation and contemporary consumer expectations. The industrialization of Hakka medicine hinges on this transformation, with technology serving as the critical catalyst.

A prime example is Jiaying Pharmaceutical’s star product, “Double-ingredient Throat Wind Relief Powder.” Originating from a Qing Dynasty prescription over 170 years old, the remedy’s efficacy is rooted in ingredients like pearl and artificial bezoar, known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for their heat-clearing and detoxifying properties. Historically, it was a powder—effective, but cumbersome by today’s standards. The company’s key innovation was not in changing the core formula, but in modernizing its delivery. By investing in dosage-form improvement, they converted the powder into a convenient spray, dramatically enhancing user experience and market appeal.

This is just the visible tip of a much deeper industrial process. Behind the scenes, the production of these remedies is moving from small workshops to what the industry calls “digital factories.” These facilities are increasingly integrating automation, informatization, and intelligent manufacturing. By adopting Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification, companies are standardizing quality control at a level demanded by global regulators. This shift allows for the consistent, large-scale production necessary to compete in the pharmaceutical market, ensuring that each batch meets stringent safety and quality benchmarks.

The Meizhou Ecosystem: A Regional Powerhouse

The rise of Hakka medicine is not the story of a single company, but of an entire regional ecosystem meticulously cultivated in Meizhou. The region is leveraging its unique natural advantages—selenium-rich soil and over 1,800 native medicinal herb species—to build a vertically integrated supply chain.

This industrial layout covers every stage of the value chain:

• Cultivation: Multiple industrialized cultivation bases have been established to ensure a stable, high-quality supply of raw materials, like the chrysanthemum and rhizoma anemarrhenae that saw their first-ever export from Meizhou in late 2024.

• Research & Development: Meizhou has become a hub for TCM innovation, hosting seven provincial-level engineering technology research centers and multiple national master TCM heritage studios. This infrastructure fosters the crucial collaboration between industry, academia, and research institutions needed to validate traditional formulas and develop new products.

• Production & Sales: The success of this integrated model is evident in the market penetration of its products. Jiaying Pharmaceutical’s throat spray, for instance, now covers over 300,000 retail terminals across China, capturing an astonishing 50% of the national market share for such remedies. This demonstrates a mastery of logistics, distribution, and sales strategy on a massive scale.

Beyond the supply chain, Meizhou is pioneering a “medicine + tourism” model, weaving the cultural heritage of Hakka medicine into the local economy and creating a holistic brand experience that reinforces authenticity and attracts a wider audience.

Navigating the Global Gauntlet

While Hakka medicine has historical precedent for global reach—most famously with Aw Boon Haw’s Tiger Balm a century ago—the modern landscape presents a far more complex set of challenges. Today, international expansion is less about high-volume, low-profit sales and more about navigating a labyrinth of international regulations.

The regulatory environment for traditional medicines varies drastically. In the United States, most TCM products are classified as dietary supplements, limiting their ability to make specific health claims without undergoing the prohibitively expensive FDA drug approval process. In the European Union, the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) offers a pathway, but requires proof of at least 15 years of use within the EU, a high bar for many new entrants. Hong Kong, by contrast, has a more established framework for Chinese medicines, making it a critical first step for mainland companies.

Jiaying Pharmaceutical’s strategy reflects a keen awareness of these hurdles. The establishment of its subsidiary, Jiaying International, is a dedicated move to build commercial channels and expertise for overseas markets. The successful export of its throat spray to Hong Kong in February 2025 was not just a sale, but a crucial validation of its quality control and a key step in its broader globalization strategy.

This new wave of TCM exporters is competing in a burgeoning global wellness market, projected to exceed $128 billion by 2033. They face established giants like Yunnan Baiyao and Beijing Tongrentang, forcing them to differentiate through innovation, scientific validation, and targeted market entry strategies.

Data as the New Elixir

Ultimately, the long-term success of Hakka medicine on the world stage will be determined by its ability to speak the language of modern science: data. This is where the principles of “AI at Work” come into play, transforming business operations from the herb fields to the pharmacy shelf.

Intelligent manufacturing systems, powered by AI and machine learning, can optimize production lines, predict maintenance needs, and use computer vision to ensure ingredient quality, far exceeding the capabilities of human inspection. In the supply chain, AI-driven analytics can parse sales data from hundreds of thousands of retail terminals to forecast demand, optimize inventory, and identify new market opportunities with surgical precision.

The most profound impact, however, may be in research and development. AI algorithms can sift through millennia of ancient texts and cross-reference them with modern genomic and pharmacological data to identify active compounds, predict their efficacy, and suggest novel formulations. This approach can dramatically accelerate the process of validating traditional remedies, providing the evidence-based backing required by skeptical Western regulators and consumers.

While companies may not advertise their use of AI, the embrace of “digital factories” and data-driven market strategies signals a clear trajectory. For Hakka medicine, the fusion of ancient wisdom with artificial intelligence is not a distant future; it is the emerging reality of how tradition survives and thrives in a data-centric world. This technological integration is turning cultural heritage into a dynamic, scalable, and highly competitive business asset.