China has facilitated the establishment of a technical committee dedicated to traditional medicine within the International Organization for Standardization and has contributed to the release of 135 international standards for traditional Chinese medicine, authorities said Wednesday.

Zhu Meina, deputy director of the department of standards technical management at the State Administration for Market Regulation, said at a news conference that the secretariat of the committee — named ISO/TC 249 — is based in China, with 66 additional international standards currently under development.

"The committee's work has played a significant role in promoting international trade of TCM products and the globalization of TCM," she said.

Zhu Gui, an official with the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said the country has accelerated the standardization of TCM in recent years.

To date, China has released 97 national standards and 15 industry standards for TCM, while local authorities have issued more than 1,300 standards.

Guo Yi, head of the Tianjin Institute of Standardization for Traditional Chinese Medicine, said the national standard for the use of the three-edged needle in acupuncture therapy was first released in 2008 and has been revised for the first time this year.

The standard has been widely applied in education, technical training and academic exchanges, and has received broad recognition in clinical practice, he added. It has also been adopted by some medical institutions in Japan, Malaysia and Italy, as well as in teaching materials for international students.