"TCM Going Global Hub" Launched in Shanghai: A One-Stop Cross-Border Platform for Agarwood Exports to the Middle East

Platform Positioning: One-Stop Export Services

According to Xinhua's Shanghai channel, the health brand development forum of the 2026 Lujiazui International Health Brand Festival, themed "Connecting the World, Developing Authentic Health Industries", was recently held in Shanghai. The forum opened a special session titled "Fragrance Reaching the World: TCM Heading to the Middle East", gathering nearly a hundred guests including TCM experts, overseas channel operators and industry investors to discuss innovative paths for the internationalisation, industrialisation and branding of traditional Chinese medicine. At the forum, the "TCM Going Global Hub" cross-border service platform was officially unveiled. Focusing on agarwood and distinctive TCM industries, it provides domestic enterprises with one-stop, full-chain support covering overseas channel matchmaking, cross-border trade, brand promotion and localisation services.

Channel Network and Middle East Opportunities

The meeting disclosed that the platform has already linked more than 160 core agarwood distributors and mainstream spice wholesale markets in the Middle East, with an independent cross-border service station in Dubai about to launch. Shang Li, director of the Shanghai International Service Trade Promotion Centre for TCM, said agarwood is a rare authentic Chinese medicinal material, while the Middle East has a long history of spice use and a deep market foundation that aligns closely with Chinese incense culture and TCM wellness culture; the centre will continue to cultivate the Middle East market using the platform as a hub. At the meeting, Wang Keyuan, president of the Dianbai Agarwood Association in Maoming, Guangdong, systematically reviewed agarwood's medicinal value, wellness application scenarios and the full domestic chain from planting and processing to R&D and sales, and promoted the Sanya International Incense Competition scheduled for November. Zhang Kaiwen, Middle East executive president of the hub, analysed the consumption characteristics, industry gaps and growth potential of the roughly 65-million-person health market across the six Gulf states.

Compliance Notes

Agarwood exports to Gulf markets still need to satisfy both ends: CITES permits, certificates of origin and phytosanitary documents on the export side, plus import access and labelling rules on the destination side. All Aquilaria species are listed in CITES Appendix II; plantation-origin material (source code P) is generally easier to prove as legal than wild-sourced material, and splitting large orders into small parcels to evade permits risks seizure. Companies are advised to fold test reports, traceability documents and contractual clauses into their transaction paperwork while expanding channels.

This article is industry observation and general science writing; it does not constitute any trading or investment advice. Please purchase agarwood through legal channels and look for traceable, testable sources.