BEIJING - The State Council passed a draft of China's first law covering traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at an executive meeting on Wednesday.

The draft law, aimed at regulating medicine as well as personnel training, will now be submitted for deliberation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

Officials have been proposing laws on TCM since the early 1980s. However, TCM hasn't received wide recognition in more recent decades, which has stalled legislative efforts.

"We are hoping the law can help address problems hindering TCM's development, including how to better incorporate TCM into industrial chains," said Chen Qiguang, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.