On July 1, Cailian Press (reporter Zhang Liangde) reported that the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation announced the notice of the State Administration for Market Regulation and the General Office of the General Administration of Customs on publicly soliciting opinions on the "Announcement on Allowing the Pilot Use of Niuhuang Imported for the Production of Chinese Patent Medicine (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)", intending to pilot the release of some natural niuhuang that meets the requirements.

Guangyuyuan (600771.SH) company officials told Cailian Press that "This opinion has a positive effect on finished products (production) of Chinese patent medicines using natural niuhuang as raw materials, and from another perspective, it also indicates that the country recognizes the efficacy of such Chinese patent medicines; In addition, it also has positive significance for raw material supply and procurement cost control. If the supply of raw materials increases, products using natural niuhuang such as Angong Niuhuang pills can also be provided to more people in need."

The "Draft for Soliciting Opinions" proposes: natural niuhuang that meets China's customs quarantine requirements and drug quality inspection requirements and comes from countries (regions) where bovine spongiform encephalopathy bans do not exist is allowed to be used in the pilot production of Chinese patent medicines. The pilot period is set at 2 years from the date of this announcement, and after the expiration, the import and use of niuhuang will gradually be promoted nationwide according to the pilot work situation.

At present, the price of high-quality natural bile is about 1.7-1.8 million yuan/kg in the market. Many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe that after the implementation of this policy, the price of natural niuhuang may fall.

Manager Du of the Bozhou Medicine Merchant Network told Cailian Press that "the current market price is about 1700 yuan per gram. After the import is opened, the price of natural niuhuang will drop rapidly. Similar to the case of earthworms in the early years, all imported Chinese medicinal materials will be affected by the import policy."

Due to the continuous increase in the demand for earthworms in recent years and the insufficient domestic supply, the price has risen continuously from 200 yuan/kg in 2018 to about 260 yuan/kg in 2021. After the import volume increased in 2021, the price of earthworms fell to around 215 yuan/kg in 2022. Manager Du said that if it were not for the supply of imported goods, the price of earthworms might have already exceeded 1,000 yuan.

The person in charge of a certain medicinal materials company in Anguo believes that the current price of natural niuhuang abroad is not cheap. It was about 1.2 million yuan/kg last year's fourth quarter and about 1.5 million yuan/kg now. The price may decrease after the import is opened, but the decrease may not be as significant as expected.

The supply and demand of natural niuhuang in China has always been imbalanced. According to Cailian Press, the terminal demand for natural niuhuang purchase has been relatively high. Due to the increasingly stringent requirements such as purchasing documents of several large-scale pharmaceutical companies in China, some purchasing managers also face difficulties in completing purchase tasks.

Shen Yong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Beijing Shengshi Kanglai Chinese Medicine Marketing and Planning Co., Ltd. and Director-General of the China Medical and Health Development Promotion Committee, told Cailian Press that "As the price of natural niuhuang has become increasingly high, a gray area has also arisen. At this point, it is better to introduce policies to standardize the industry and promote the healthy development of the industry."

Shen Yong said that if domestic natural niuhuang is imported, it will bring three promotion effects to the industry: First, it will allow Chinese patent medicine companies with demands to use better natural niuhuang raw materials, thereby improving product competitiveness; second, it is conducive to reducing the price of artificial niuhuang raw materials, which can enable more niuhuang-based products to be applied clinically; Third, it will also bring catfish effects to the R&D of alternative products such as cultivated niuhuang and artificial niuhuang, improving product quality and output.