Illustration: Liu Rui

Recently, Fujian-based pharmaceutical company Guizhentang, which produces traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) containing bear bile, has plunged into a storm of criticisms. Its IPO has received widespread ire and boycotts from celebrities.

Some animal protection activist representatives even wrote joint letters to the top securities regulator, attempting to press the authorities to veto the company's IPO plan.

It's good to see people's growing awareness on animal protection. But we have to be careful about over-reacting.

Hundreds of substances from animals, including bear bile, musk, ox bezoars and tiger bone, together with herbal plants, are important sources for TCM. As animal protection improved and bans were issued, the use of animal parts is facing more restrictions. Official figures show that the number of companies engaged in bear bile extraction has shrunk to 68 from over 480 in the 1990s.

Nevertheless, due to the unique efficacy that Chinese medicinal practitioners claim is irreplaceable by synthetic compounds, natural substances like bear bile, musk and ox bezoars are still used in over 100 Chinese patent medicines.

The bear bile-made Tanreqing injection, the flagship medicine from Shanghai Kaibao Pharmaceutical Company, which was listed at the end of 2009, benefits tens of thousands of patients. I am one of them. Its efficiency at clearing heat, reducing phlegm and detoxification is better than other medicines I have tried. Its price was also cheap, around 20 yuan ($3) per injection. Kaibao's latest annual report showed that it sold 33.75 million Tanreqing injections last year.

Furthermore, these companies farm the bears themselves. With improved technologies, the companies claim that the bears can continue to live healthy lives after the extraction procedures, though others argue that the bears still suffer pain. But if we want to reduce animal pain, we should take meat off the table entirely.

Before alternative and better medicines are produced, it's still too soon to ban all these medicines made from animal substances.

I'm also an animal lover. I have raised three cats and two dogs at home and see them as my friends. But that does not mean I would join those people who hijack trucks on the expressway that bear dogs to be slaughtered at abattoirs with legitimate licenses.

At present, the law protects those endangered animals. But the law also protects the legal and safe production of medical substances from farmed animals.

So the protests have so far done little to stop the pace of Guizhentang's IPO. Some people urge including ethics to the approval criteria for IPOs. I don't think this is a good idea. Ethical criteria have been adopted in medical operations as international practice. However, they seldom appear on IPO assessments. In Australia, even brothels, which are legal in many parts of the country but still morally questionable, are listed on the stock exchange. Companies have a right to do business as long as they are following their national laws and industrial regulations.

Besides, the scientific validity of TCM has been questioned and its products sometimes banned in Western countries. Some people will be happy if we give up traditional medicines and turn to modern medicine, whose patents are mostly controlled by foreign pharmaceutical companies.

So why not give some trust and support for those few remaining domestic TCM producers? TCM is a legacy from our ancestors and a source of pride for Chinese. Meanwhile, the China Association of TCM also needs to make their case better. In Guizhentang's case, the Association condemned the public's outcry as being the result of "sabotage" by some Western animal protection foundations to raise funds and as a plot by some interest groups to weaken the competitiveness of TCM.

This was a poor response. It's true that some organizations have exaggerated animal cruelty in China with stories or pictures from years ago, before the animal protection laws were improved. But such accusations don't win any understanding with the public. A better method would be to show the humane methods used in extracting the bile.

We have to be aware of the interests involved on all sides and not be blinded by our emotions, otherwise our good intentions may go astray.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Huang Jingjing, based on an interview with Qing Yi, chief economist of Hengtai Securities Co., Ltd, a finance firm based in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. huangjingjing@globaltimes.com.cn