Industrializing traditional medical knowledge in China: an integrated governance framework for addressing institutional fragmentation.

INTRODUCTION: Traditional medical knowledge (TMK) plays an increasingly important role in contemporary health systems, yet its industrialization remains constrained by fragmented governance across knowledge registration, standardization, and intellectual property (IP) protection. This study examines the institutional barriers affecting TMK industrialization in China within the broader context of public health governance and innovation systems. METHODS: Using qualitative institutional analysis of policy and regulatory documents, this study investigates the institutional arrangements governing TMK registration, standardization, and legal protection, and identifies the mechanisms underlying governance fragmentation. RESULTS: The study identifies persistent fragmentation across informational, technical, and legal domains that impedes cross-domain institutional coordination. To address these challenges, the article develops an integrated governance framework that aligns TMK registration, standardization mechanisms, and legal protection structures. The findings suggest that this framework improves institutional coordination by clarifying functional linkages among governance domains and reducing systemic misalignment. DISCUSSION: This study contributes to ongoing discussions on traditional medicine governance and offers policy-relevant insights for improving the coherence and sustainability of health-related knowledge systems This study contributes to ongoing discussions on traditional medicine governance and offers policy-relevant insights for improving the coherence and sustainability of health-related knowledge systems.