Practitioners of Chinese medicine have the right to practise independently in accordance with the scope of their registration in their registered territory (5). The scope of TCM doctors can be divided into internal medicine doctors, external medicine doctors or the combination of the two. The expert confirmed the identified ranges in the assessment. Their careers need to be reassessed every two years.


All licensed practitioners should practice in legal medical institutions such as general hospitals, traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, clinics or private clinics. Otherwise, they could face administrative penalties. Since December 20, 2016, according to the judicial interpretation of the Supreme Court of the People's Republic of China, medical practitioners who hold certificates but practice outside legitimate medical institutions no longer constitute illegal practice of medicine.


In fact, not all external remedies derived from TCM should be practiced by licensed doctors in legitimate medical institutions. Nowadays, in the commercial center or on the street, there are many traditional Chinese medicine health centers. They offer some services, such as scraping, massage, moxibustion, or meridian detoxification, while some external treatments with traumatic, invasive, and dangerous technical measures, such as acupuncture and cupping, are prohibited from practicing in these halls (13). If the above-mentioned prohibited external treatment law is implemented, the so-called TCM health care sanatoriums need to be registered in accordance with the requirements of medical institutions. The smallest TCM medical institutions - TCM clinics - will be required to register.


Traditional Chinese medicine clinic is a kind of common medical institution which is mainly based on traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, cupping and massage. There are two kinds of Chinese medicine clinics, one is a Chinese medicine polyclinic, which requires 85% Chinese medicine treatment, and the other is a Chinese medicine clinic, which requires 100% Chinese medicine treatment. These two clinics only need to apply for registration with the local Chinese medicine authority before the operation. Traditional Chinese medicine clinic is a common medical institution