The traditional medicine practiced in China for millennia finally made a strong headway to the world stage after many earlier such attempts failed. A China-made pill to treat cardiovascular conditions had been tested safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and hopefully would be marketed in the United States as early as 2013, its Tianjin-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, Tasly, said Saturday.

The drug, called Compound Danshen Dripping Pill, passed the FDA's Phase II clinical trials in July. Once Phase III is completed, Tasly can ask for the FDA approval to market the drug in the United States. Previously, the drug has been approved by drug watchdogs in Canada, Russia, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and some African countries.

The breakthrough did not come easily. Efforts for promoting the Chinese traditional medicine to the world market have been going on for years, but little progress has been made in the U.S. and European markets. There are many barriers on the way to the Western drug markets, and one of them is the different curative mechanisms between Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.

As a result, it's difficult to explain how traditional Chinese medicine works according to the criteria of the Western pharmacy. Secondly, in the West, the clinical trials that every new drug should go through before getting certificated is a long and rigorous process. Many Chinese herbal medicine producers were thus scared away.