A cooperation agreement has been entered among Huadu District Government, Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone Management Committee, and the First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, and the three parties agree to jointly build a Guangdong Clinical Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Huashan Town, Huadu District. The signing ceremony was attended and witnessed by Xing Xiang, Huadu District Party Chief, Li Xiaodong, Deputy District Party Chief and District Mayor, Luo Jianrong, Deputy Director of Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone Management Committee, and Li Qiang, Party Chief of the First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, and other leaders and heads of relevant departments.

The Guangdong Clinical Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine is reportedly to have 200,000 square meters of planned construction area, with a total land area of about 27 acres, and a net land area of about 23 acres. The project will construct and build medical, teaching and scientific research facilities, including Huadu Site of Guangdong Clinical Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Huadu Hospital of the First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine; and the latter will be built to the standard of a Class A tertiary hospital of traditional Chinese medicine. The project is scheduled to start construction by the end of 2022 and be put into operation by 2025.

The First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine is one of the first Class A tertiary TCM hospitals in China, a model TCM hospital, a high-level hospital in Guangdong Province, a planned key TCM hospital of the National TCM Inheritance and Innovation Project, a national TCM clinical research base, a national treatment base for major pandemic, and a contributing hospital to the building of national regional medical centers. It currently has 6 national regional TCM (specialty) diagnosis and treatment centers, not less than any other hospitals in the country. And it is renowned for a large number of nationally famous doctors and teachers, most notably Professor Deng Tietao, one of the first batch of Masters of National Medicine, Professor Zhou Daihan, one of the third batch of Masters of National Medicine, and Professor Ouyang Huiqing, one of the first batch of National Famous TCM Practitioners. The hospital leads among TCM hospitals in China in the number of national key specialties/disciplines, with 8 national key disciplines, 8 key national disciplines recognized by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 7 key national clinical specialties, 14 key specialties recognized by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and 24 national famous doctor studios.

Xing Xiang pointed out that as one of the important bases for higher Chinese medicine clinical education, medical treatment and scientific research in the country, the First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine can provide quality medical resources greatly needed by people in Huadu District; the project of building Guangdong Clinical Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine together with the First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine and the Management Committee of Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone is not only a concrete step towards promotion of the inheritance, innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine, but also a move to meet the urgent need of speeding up the expansion of service capacity and more balanced regional layout of high-quality medical resources to facilitate the airport economy and to deliver high-quality TCM health care services to the doorsteps of Huadu people;

In the coming days, the District Party Committee and the District Government, working closely with Management Committee of Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone in accordance with the cooperation agreement, to speed up project land acquisition, application approval and other processes, creating favorable conditions for the construction to begin as soon as possible; and it is hoped that the First Affiliated Hospital First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine can bear the actual situation of Huadu in mind, adhere to a high starting point, a high standard and a high-quality planning, do a solid job in the preliminary work of the project, and increase input of advantageous disciplines and outstanding talents to the project, so that the goal can be achieved as soon as possible that it is completed and operated as a leading high-level research-oriented hospital, a clinical TCM research platform, and a national-level TCM R&D and incubation platform in China.

In his speech Li Xiaodong said that at a time when Huadu District is seizing the opportunity offered by "Dual Zone" building and "Twin City" interaction, and is dedicated to fulfill its important role of "building the area surrounding Baiyun International Airport into a new growth pole and lead in the integration of northern Guangdong into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", the signing of this contract to introduce high-quality medical resources of the First Affiliated Hospital to Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine is conducive to the overall development of the region, will further optimize the business environment, and will facilitate the efforts to build a new industrial development pattern characterized by "one district, one city and one port", thereby Huadu District may become the aviation center, and a new growth pole of Guangzhou, a national central city.

Luo Jianrong said that Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone is a national-level demonstration zone of airport economy, and at the heart of Guangzhou's ambition to become an international aviation hub; and since high-quality economic development is impossible without high-quality business environment, it is hoped that the Guangdong Clinical Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine project of the First Affiliated Hospital Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine can be completed at an early date, providing further thrust to the development of the airport economy.

Li Qiang said that the three parties’ cooperation to build the Guangdong Clinical Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as part of the efforts to thoroughly implement the spirit of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on promoting the inheritance, innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine, aims to jointly help Huadu District to become a powerful player in traditional Chinese medicine; and the First Affiliated Hospital Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, committed to actively fulfilling its obligations under the cooperation agreement, will apply the hospital's medical technology, talent pool, scientific research, teaching and other advantageous resources to build a leading high-level research-oriented hospital, a clinical TCM research platform, and a national-level TCM R&D and incubation platform in China that can drive the overall improvement of Huadu District’s level in traditional Chinese medicine treatment, and better provide high-quality TCM health care services for the people in Huadu District and the Airport Economic Zone.