Herbal teas and traditional Chinese medicine-themed products are displayed for patients during a June 2025 free clinic at the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Lin Zihan)

Traditional Chinese healing practices, including acupuncture, moxibustion and tuina therapy, are expanding their reach internationally as medical centers open across Central Asia and beyond.

Akram, 7, and his sister Raushan, 4, both from Kazakhstan, were born with spastic cerebral palsy and have never been able to walk independently. When the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine opened in Astana last year, their mother brought them for treatment.

A Chinese traditional medicine doctor examines a local child at the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine. (Photo provided by the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine)

Under treatment from Chinese doctors working alongside Kazakh local TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) practitioners, both children have made significant progress and can now walk independently for the first time.

The success stories have attracted more local TCM practitioners to the program. Training workshops and free medical clinics have expanded access to TCM treatments throughout Kazakhstan, leading to increased public acceptance of TCM practices.

A hallway exhibit at the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine explains the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine: observation, listening and smelling, inquiry and palpation. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Lin Zihan)

The main hall of the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine in Astana. (Photo provided by the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine)

Local traditional medicine practitioners and a patient's mother discuss treatment progress with Chinese physicians in a pediatric clinic at the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine. (People's Daily Overseas Edition/Lin Zihan)