BEIJING -- Chinese researchers discovered 54 new medicinal plant species for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) last year, according to a report released by the State Administration of TCM.

The 2017 annual survey of resources for TCM showed that there were 13,000 types of medicinal herbs in the wild and 736 cultivated herbs nationwide.

China started the fourth pilot program for the national survey of TCM resources in 2011, which had covered 1,332 counties in 31 province-level regions across the country, or about half of the country's administrative divisions at the county level, by the end of 2017.

China also established more than 200 seedling nurseries for growing TCM herbs between 2012 and 2015.

"Standards should be set to regulate the exploitation, planting and quality control of TCM herbs to fully use and protect the resources," said Huang Luqi, deputy head of China Academy of Chinese Medical Science.

China will start the fourth survey of TCM resources this year.