Agreement to build the new International Hospital in Guangzhou with the medical support of Hospital Clinic Barcelona

The signature of the agreement took place in the Moncloa Palace, the residence of Spanish Prime Minister, under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

On November 28th, the CEO of Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Dr. JM Campistol signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Standing Member of CPC Guangzhou Committee and Chairman of the Administrative Committee of Guangzhou Development District Mr. Zhou Yawei. 

The agreement, promoted by the Cantonese government and funded by an investment fund (jointly managed by Guangzhou government subsidiary  Global Star and Silver Mountain Group) was blessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping himself on his visit to Madrid. In this meeting with the Spanish Government, a dozen commercial and collaboration agreements were signed, including this international western medicine hospital in one of the main hubs of large companies in China. The ceremony took place in Moncloa Palace, the residence of Spanish’ Prime Minister.

Mr. Zhou Yawei and Dr. Josep Maria Campistol during the signature ceremony

The core of the agreement is a hospital with 250 beds following the Clinic organisational model and medical standards, and closely linked to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Barcelona University. "The agreement affects both postgraduate training of doctors and nurses, technicians and other health professions," says Francesc Cardellach, dean of the faculty. "From this collaboration could also arise a double master that for us would be a huge leap in international recognition", says Cardellach. "The relationship with Chinases medicine researchers is already growing a lot: Our Clinical Medicine journal receives three or four articles each week from them, some very good ones".

Dr. Josep Maria Campistol, CEO of Hospital Clinic Barcelona, and Dr. Josep Maria Nicolas, vice-dean of the Barcelona University with some hospital leaders meet the Guangzhou delegation

Hospital Clinic de Barcelona is a leading medical institution in Europe and is a tertiary medical service institution in many medical speciality fields. The area of Barcelona is an important hub of biomedical sciences. Spain is the largest country for organ transplantation, especially in kidney, liver, lung, bone marrow. According to “The Lancet”, Spain ranks #4 in the world in health care access quality. It's life expectancy of 83 is the largest one among medium and large developed countries. 

Guangzhou is a significant hub city of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. Guangzhou Development District is the first pilot zone for EU-China Regional Policy Cooperation designated by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission and the EU Committee, which is the strongest region in technological innovation, biopharmaceutical development and international cooperation. There are 176 projects invested by the Fortune 500 companies.

Working meeting between GDD, Guangzhou Global Star, Silvermountain, Hospital Clinic Barcelona and Barcelona University

"The Barcelona campus will provide cutting-edge specialties, training of health professions and remote supervision“ reports Dr. Campistol. According to the agreement, the two parties will jointly establish the Guangzhou Barcelona International Hospital (“GBIH”) in Guangzhou Development District with the participation and promotion of the China-Europe Belt & Road Fund. On the basis of GBIH, the two parties will establish a translational medicine center focusing on leading edge cardiovascular, hematology and oncology, fetal surgery, imaging etc. as well as a R&D center which will guide the smart manufacturing of intelligent medical equipment.

The Chinese delegation visited the European Medical Hub facilities in the "Sant Pau Recinte Modernista" were they met the Barcelona City Hall Promotion Bureau and Catalan Government Trade and Investment Bureau

After the signature, the Chinese delegation traveled to Barcelona to meet with the Catalonia trade and Investment Office, who has been providing continued support to the development of the cooperation from their offices in China and Barcelona, and the City Development department of the Barcelona City Hall. The meeting was held at the Barcelona International Public Policy Hub (BIPP Hub), that will host the European Medical Hub, an organization devoted to foster medical challenges operation between Europe and China. 

The delegation also paid a visit to Hospital Clinic, where they met with the heads of the “institutes” (units) involved in the plan.

The new "Guangzhou Barcelona International Hospital" is expected to use Linkcare's collaborative medicine platform for standard medical procedure exchange between Hospital Clinic Barcelona and the new hospital.