To advance Belt and Road Initiative cooperation in the healthcare industry and boost bilateral collaboration between China and Thailand in the wellness sector, Yao Ruyu, Director of HPRD LAB, and Qian Jie, Deputy Director, visited the Bangkok headquarters of Fu An Tang, a century-old overseas Chinese pharmaceutical enterprise, on June 24, 2026. They held in-depth discussions with the third-generation core management of the enterprise on trends in the China-Thailand wellness industry, cross-border industrial collaboration and the commercialization of scientific research outcomes, reaching a preliminary agreement on deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation.
Founded in 1912 and located in the heart of Bangkok’s Chinatown, Fu An Tang is a prestigious time-honored Chinese pharmaceutical brand in Thailand. With over a century of experience in herbal medicine import and export, proprietary Chinese medicine distribution, R&D of traditional Thai herbal remedies and wellness product operation, the enterprise holds full compliance licenses issued by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health. It boasts mature local distribution networks, a complete industrial operation system and profound experience in China-Thailand pharmaceutical trade, serving as a vital bridge linking China’s traditional medicine industry with the ASEAN wellness market.
During the site visit, the HPRD LAB delegation toured the product exhibition areas, herbal medicine warehouses and brand display areas of Fu An Tang headquarters. The team conducted thorough research on the enterprise’s operation model, product portfolio and market layout, as well as the development landscape, regulatory standards and consumer demands of Thailand’s wellness industry, gaining comprehensive insights into the advantages and opportunities for the industrialization and commercialization of traditional medicine across ASEAN.
At the forum, Yang Baoshan, a third-generation operator of Fu An Tang, introduced the brand’s century-long development journey, core resource strengths, industrial layout plans and international development vision. She expressed hopes to leverage the strengths of Chinese scientific research platforms to address bottlenecks in industrial innovation, product development and standardization, and drive innovative upgrading and cross-border growth of traditional medicine businesses.
Director Yao Ruyu elaborated on HPRD LAB’s core functions and research strengths, covering medicinal plant resource research, natural product development, innovation of food-medicine homologous products, standardization of traditional medicine and the transformation of research results into industrial applications. He noted that China and Thailand share homologous herbal culture and consistent wellness philosophies, creating strong complementarity and broad prospects for in-depth industrial cooperation.
He highlighted the booming ASEAN wellness market, which brings new opportunities for traditional herbal medicine and health care sectors. HPRD LAB features a complete research system, advanced technical platforms and mature commercialization mechanisms, while Fu An Tang possesses unrivaled local distribution capacity, regulatory compliance credentials and long-established brand influence in Thailand. The partnership will enable precise integration of scientific expertise and local market access, facilitate the launch of high-quality Chinese wellness research outcomes and standardized systems in ASEAN, and unlock the value of distinctive Thai medicinal plant resources for innovative R&D, jointly supporting the inheritance of traditional herbal culture and high-quality growth of the bilateral wellness industry.
This exchange has built a solid cooperation channel between HPRD LAB and leading ASEAN wellness enterprises, laying a foundation for the lab’s international expansion and cross-border industrial collaboration. Moving forward, both parties will maintain frequent communication to steadily advance follow-up cooperation, further advancing the construction of the Health Silk Road.
HPRD LAB delegation touring Fu An Tang headquarters
In-depth discussion between Chinese and Thai representatives
Group photo of all participants at the meeting