Sun Yat-sen University leaders visit Birmingham to mark health partnership

Senior leaders from Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) in Guangzhou visited the University of Birmingham to mark a new partnership that will help to boost the numbers of Chinese doctors in general practice

President of The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Professor Haipeng XIAO, Vice President Professor Ming KUANG; Director of the Clinical Trial Unit, Professor Haibo WANG and Professor of Medicine, Professor Wei CHEN visited the Edgbaston campus to learn more about Birmingham’s research excellence.

The University of Birmingham is helping to establish a Primary Care training centre at SYSU First Hospital and experts from Birmingham will provide high-quality training, education and academic projects.

The Chinese academics met University of Birmingham Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Eastwood, following a tour of the campus.

They were in Birmingham as part of a major UK visit by leaders from Guangdong province. Party Secretary, Communist Party of China Guangdong Committee, Mr. Hu Chunhua and Mayor of Guangzhou Mr. Wen Guohui led a 20-strong delegation to Britain.

The leaders and their fellow delegates attended a special ceremony hosted by Birmingham City Council, where University of Birmingham Provost Professor Tim Jones and Professor Haipeng Xiao, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University and President of the First Affiliated Hospital signed an agreement formalising the partnership with SYSU.

Professor Sir David Eastwood said: “I am delighted to welcome our visitors from Sun Yat-sen University to sign an agreement that continues the University of Birmingham’s work to support the Chinese government’s healthcare reforms

“Working with our partners at Sun Yat-sen University to establish the Primary Care training centre continues our collaboration with healthcare providers in Guangdong province that has delivered training of some 500 senior managers, over 4,000 doctors and 1,000 GP trainers.”

The project continues the University of Birmingham’s pivotal role in helping to deliver China’s £85 billion Health Reform investment, which is focused on developing primary care and GP forces to 300,000 by 2020.

Under the leadership of Professor KK Cheng, director of its Institute of Applied Health Research, the University has jointly established six ‘China-UK Collaborating Centres for General Practice Training’ in Guangzhou, three of which are officially listed among the ‘Best 100 Community Health Centres’ in China.

Professor Haipeng Xiao, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University and President of the First Affiliated Hospital said: “Healthy China” has already been recognised as a national strategy, and the establishment of a comprehensive GP workforce constitutes a key step towards the realisation of this vision and the ‘China Dream’.

“Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine stands as the origin of Western medicine in China, and was where Dr. Sun Yat-sen undertook his medical studies. As the largest and most prominent comprehensive hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and in South China, the First Affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University maintains a longstanding reputation and prestige across Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and bears the responsibility of playing a leading role on promoting healthcare across China.

“The University of Birmingham remains a nationally leading institute of GP training. The joint effort of these two prominent institutions aims to benefit from the UK’s well-established GP system, in order to explore a GP training model that best suits China, and to serve as a benchmark example for Sino-UK collaborative efforts in healthcare.”

Professor Jon Frampton, Director of the University’s China Institute and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (China), said: “The University of Birmingham has achieved a great deal since opening our Guangzhou office in 2011. We’ve launched 28 joint research projects with our Guangzhou partners and established collaborations with all major education institutions in Guangdong.

“We look forward to bringing our collaboration with Guangzhou to a new level in research, education and public health, as well as expanding our impact wider in the Guangdong region thanks to the continued support of the Guangzhou and Guangdong governments.”

For more information or interviews, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0) 121 414 8254 or +44 (0)782 783 2312  

• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries.
• It is ranked 7th in the UK for Graduate Employability (Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2014/15) and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment 2015/16 by The Times and Sunday Times.
• The history of collaboration between China and the University of Birmingham dates back almost to the foundation of the University in 1901. The University’s China Institute was created in 2012 to reflect Birmingham’s extensive academic activities its colleagues undertake in China.