CBI member Swansea University announced that links between the University and China, from medical research to education and staff development, were on the horizon thanks to the opening of a new joint medical centre at Wuhan Union Hospital, which was founded in 1866 by a Swansea-born missionary, the Reverend Dr. Griffith John.
The Centre was opened in a ceremony in Wuhan, attended by leaders from Swansea University and the Wuhan Union Hospital, and by the U.K. Consul General. It will promote clinical and life sciences research and build student and staff exchanges and education collaborations through an annual Medical Forum, a professional association, publications, and collaborative projects.
The new Centre builds on the formal collaboration between Swansea University and Wuhan Union Hospital, initiated in 2012, when a delegation from Union Hospital and Huazhong University visited Swansea to present a copper bust of Griffith John to the city. The bust is permanently displayed in Swansea Museum.
The Wuhan Union Hospital, one of China’s biggest, has over 5,000 in-patient beds. Each year, the hospital staff care for 3.5 million outpatients, admit 158,000 patients, and carry out 72,000 operations.
Professor Iwan Davies, Pro Vice Chancellor at Swansea University, said, “Swansea University is a global university. We are pursuing an ambitious internationalisation strategy and developing deep partnerships with great institutions with world credentials.
Overseas partners are crucial to our continued success as a University, benefitting our research and our staff and students. This new Medical Centre at one of the leading teaching hospitals in China opens an exciting new chapter in Swansea’s longstanding links with Wuhan, which is also one of China’s fastest-growing cities.
By promoting clinical and life sciences research collaborations and encouraging student and staff exchanges, I am confident that the Centre will realise significant research, humanitarian and health discoveries, whilst at the same time building on the historical links between Swansea and Wuhan.”
Nick Whittingham, Consul General of the British Consulate in Wuhan, said, “The Centre provides exciting opportunities for more wide-ranging medical research, clinical, and educational collaborations between the U.K. and China.”
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