National health initiative integrating medicine and martial arts launched in Beijing

A national health initiative integrating martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) was launched in Beijing on Dec. 20.

A martial arts show with robots is performed at a national health initiative launch event in Beijing, Dec. 20, 2025. [Photo courtesy of CCTV.com]

CCTV.com, a web portal of China Central Television, announced its strategic collaboration with Imperial Paste Prescriptions, a brand of Beijing Taikaier Nutrition Technology Development Co., Ltd. The collaboration supports the Nation’s Health (Daguo Jiankang) series by featuring vitality exercises rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, and aligns with a national health initiative to integrate martial arts with traditional Chinese medicine. This effort explores new models for industrial development within the comprehensive healthcare sector.

Rooted in traditions that are 2,200-year-old and first recorded in the "Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon," paste prescriptions flourished in the Qing dynasty. One such record from the time of the Qing shows both Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu's taking 30 such paste prescription formulas. 

Imperial Paste Prescriptions, a standout TCM tonic, traces its formulas to Qing imperial medical records. Its expert R&D team — led by Professor Li Liukun, descendant of three generations of imperial physicians, and Professor Zhang Jingchun, academic inheritor of TCM master Chen Keji — has optimized the recipes for modern needs, adhering to "authentic raw materials and time-honored processing techniques" to lock in herbal essence. The pairing of TCM vitality exercises and Imperial Paste Prescriptions combines nutrients, compounds and nourishment with the goal of delivering comprehensive, personalized solutions for national health.

The initiative answers the core requirement of the guideline to implement the country's Healthy China Action (2019-2030), which emphasizes the deepened implementation of the traditional Chinese medicine and preventive health program. This has led to a far more effective method for knowledge and techniques of traditional Chinese medicine health preservation to be promoted. This responds to the guiding principle of "exercise is medicine" advocated by the General Administration of Sport of China. 

Integrating martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine organically combines the body-strengthening methods of traditional physical activities with the preventive treatment concept of traditional Chinese medicine. Through systematic organization and scientific innovation, it forms a distinctive health intervention pathway. 

The TCM vitality exercises are precisely the crystallization of this integrative concept. Drawing from the essence of traditional physical activities and incorporating traditional Chinese medicine principles, these exercises use simple, easy-to-learn, and graceful movements to strengthen the constitution. They hold significant importance for the prevention and rehabilitation of chronic issues and for enhancing the overall health literacy of the population.

Experts join a roundtable discussion at a national health initiative launch event in Beijing, Dec. 20, 2025. [Photo courtesy of CCTV.com]

Experts and insiders from the health sector gathered to discuss the development prospects of the new integrative martial arts plus TCM wellness model from various perspectives. Highlights included a keynote speech by Gao Jun, vice president of the Geriatrics branch of the China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, on how health exercises can help prevent and control chronic diseases in middle-aged and older adults; a speech by imperial history expert and Palace Museum researcher Yuan Hongqi on dietary regimen in the Qing Dynasty court; and a presentation by Lu Jinghua, son and academic inheritor of TCM master Lu Zhizheng, on the wisdom of prevention before illness in traditional Chinese medicine. 

Later, Zhang Xiaohang, an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage and a specially-invited expert at the Fitness Qigong Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, led his Chinese and foreign disciples in a unique kung fu show alongside Unitree robots. A roundtable panel also featured experts in an in-depth discussion on the significance and key role of the integration of martial arts and TCM in the field of comprehensive healthcare.

Leveraging guidance from national institutions and the credibility of mainstream media, the event organizers said they will also partner with integrated media centers in provinces and municipalities as well as top-tier communities nationwide to build a communication matrix. Through in-depth coverage and multi-dimensional dissemination via media outlets and platforms, combined with targeted outreach and interactive experiences delivered by communities, the event will ensure that the health concepts of vitality exercises and the integration of martial arts and TCM, along with the new health preservation model of health exercises plus herbal paste prescriptions, reach households far and wide and truly benefit public health.