(Yicai) Jan. 8 -- [Editor's note] With the implementation of international environmental, social, and governance standards, industrial development has entered a new era.

2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the ESG concept. At this important historical juncture, the United Nations Global Compact, the Center for Asia-Pacific at China International Communications Group, and Yicai jointly launched the 'ESG+20 Sustainable Development Leadership Interview Series.' This series explores the insights, achievements, and leadership of Chinese businesses in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility through dialogues with 20 entrepreneurs and on-site visits.

In this episode of the 'ESG+20 Sustainable Development Leadership Interview Series,' we spoke with Liang Dong, chairman of Z'an Health, which is dedicated to promoting traditional Chinese medicine and traditional culture.

"We promise that our intentions are good and that we pursue a sustainable world," Liang told Yicai regarding the reason why Z'an Health joined the UN Global Compact last year. The company shares the goal of leaving a better world for future generations with the UN, he noted.

Z'an Health promotes traditional Chinese medicine, and so it is committed to connecting traditional practice with modern civilization, technology, and ecology, Liang said. It operates a network of TCM clinics, which also function as educational institutions and lifestyle centers, teaching people Tai Chi, standing meditation, scraping therapy, or Gua sha, as well as herbal medicine, he added.

"The more I research and study, the more convinced I become that TCM and modern lifestyles can be meaningfully integrated," Liang noted. For instance, many chronic illnesses are related to lifestyle, and TCM offers a model that integrates time, space, lifestyle, genetics, family environment, and even consciousness into a single framework for treatment, he said.

TCM can also integrate with other modern disciplines beyond medicine, including psychology, physics, chemistry, biology, and even computer science and artificial intelligence, Liang pointed out.

For example, TCM places great emphasis on people's consciousness and its influence on their physical condition, which is becoming increasingly evident through advances in brain science, with companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink implanting neural interfaces into human brains to observe how consciousness controls the body and how it influences the regulation of the entire endocrine system, he noted.

Liang represented the TCM community to announce a global initiative for international cooperation and innovative development in traditional medicine at the Inaugural Global Business Summit on Belt and Road Infrastructure held in Jakarta last May. The initiative aims to offer an open and equal conversation platform for traditional medicine practitioners from different regions worldwide to share their insights.

"I believe maintaining an open mindset is crucial," Liang stressed. "Only through continuous contact can we achieve meaningful sharing and genuine understanding. This openness shouldn't be limited to interactions among traditional medicine practitioners, but must extend to their engagement with modern science and technology."

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev