The new partnership gives Nestle access to its Chinese partner's TCM library of more than 50,000 extracts from 1,200-plus herbal plants. Moreover, the Chinese side can offer TCM expertise and a botanical-based research and development platform, including discovery research, non-clinical and pharmaceutical science functions, and an understanding of the botanical guidelines and regulations for the joint venture.

"This joint venture provides us with an opportunity to develop and commercialize truly innovative and scientifically validated botanical-based nutrition," says Luis Cantarell, president and CEO of Nestle Health Science.

Other Western giants have also sought out TCM opportunities. In 2009, Switzerland-based Novartis AG announced TCM-related R&D in China and plans to spend 500 million yuan ($80 million; 63 million euros) to merge and acquire Chinese TCM enterprises in the coming years.

UK-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC has also established a new research unit in China to carry out molecular study in TCM.

GSK says innovative TCM is an important part of the company's R&D in China, with a strategy of integrating the existing TCM knowledge of diseases with modern drug discovery technology and clinical trial methodology.

In 2011, Hutchison MediPharma Ltd - a subsidiary of Chi-Med - reached an agreement with international drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC for global licensing, co-development and commercialization of Volitinib, a TCM extract that halts the progress of breast and lung cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, development costs for Volitinib in China will be shared by both sides, with Hutchison MediPharma continuing to dominate development in China, while AstraZeneca will lead and pay for development for the rest of the world.

In addition to creating partnerships, many international pharmaceutical companies have chosen to cooperate with Chinese academic research institutes, given the local partners' rich resources of talent, basic research and academic expertise. Chinese companies have also been cooperating with research institutes overseas.

Tasly has worked extensively with the likes of the Harvard University, Aston University in England and Baker Medical Research Institute in Australia, and has formed a huge scientific research system. It has taken on more than 40 key scientific researching programs on the national level.

France's largest drug maker, Sanofi-Aventis SA, has worked with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to develop modern versions of traditional Chinese medicine to treat chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

GSK has also established partnerships with academic bodies and TCM experts in China. "We are developing novel therapeutic TCM mixtures as prescription medicines through innovative extraction methods and combinations, and we use clinical data and evidence to differentiate from existing TCM products on the market," says Zang Jingwu, senior vice-president and head of GSK R&D China.

Novartis set up a six-year research partnership with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica in 2009 to identify and test the pharmacological properties of some traditional medicines.

The Shanghai institute, a unit under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is currently the largest natural-herb research base in the nation. A series of multinationals, including Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals and MSD - known as Merck & Co in the United States and Canada - have established R&D cooperation agreements with the institute.

The Chinese government's reasserted recognition of TCM's value and potential is yet another important factor in popularizing TCM's international appeal and enhancing its acceptance.

"This support also encourages foreign companies to join hands with Chinese counterparts," says Liu from Roland Berger. Over the past three years, the government has invested $2.7 billion in TCM clinical research centers and hospital infrastructure upgrades.

Foreign businesses can invest via merger or acquisition of small businesses. These partnerships are expected to make market registration easier in Chinese and foreign markets.

On another level, the newly kindled interest in TCM may also be attributed to the R&D bottlenecks faced by most global pharmaceutical majors. "In recent years, the global pharmaceutical industry has seen fast-rising R&D costs yet declining R&D productivity and a longer time to market," Liu says.

On average, only about 20 new drugs get approval from the US Food and Drug Administration annually, many of them for rare diseases. Few blockbuster drugs - medicines or medications that can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease - have been discovered in the past decade.

As a result, international pharmaceutical companies are desperate for breakthroughs to find new treatments for diseases that heavily affect people's lives and living quality, such as hyperlipemia and hypertension. They have found that TCM is effective in dealing with chronic diseases.

Some foreign firms have already tasted success with TCM. Novartis, for example, has worked closely with partners in China to use artemisinin, a TCM extract, to make a malaria vaccine that is used worldwide.

On the other hand, it is hard to ignore the restraints that block the internationalization of TCM, including distinctive notions about healthcare practice in the West.