The northern Chinese port city of Tianjin has issued its first medical practice license for a wholly foreign-owned tertiary comprehensive hospital, highlighting China's commitment to further opening its medical sector and addressing the diverse healthcare needs of patients.
The Perennial Hospital, funded and constructed by Singapore's Perennial Group, is staffed by a team of global medical experts and has a capacity of 500 beds.
It also includes an international department which provides customized medical services beyond ordinary treatments, including health maintenance, chronic disease management, and major disease rehabilitation.
Pua Seck Guan, executive chairman and CEO of the Perennial Group, said the Singaporean company was delighted to become the first foreign firm to receive such a license.
"We'll bring in advanced medical equipment as well as the advanced international standard of medical treatment, to collaborate with the local hospital and the local doctors. What we hope is to raise the medical service standard in China, so that we can benefit more local residents as well as overseas residents who live in China. I'm very confident it will bring more foreign investment and bring a lot of confidence to the Chinese market, especially in the healthcare market," said Pua.
With convenient transportation options offered by its location nearby the Tianjin South Railway Station -- which is only around a 30-minute high-speed train ride from the Chinese capital -- the Perennial Hospital is expected to have an expansive service area covering the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China.
The hospital is seen as the first step of the Perennial Group's wider plans to develop an international health, business, and tourism complex in the area, which aims to integrate elderly care, medical services, hotels, and commercial activities.
Tianjin issues license for China's first foreign-owned tertiary comprehensive hospital
China has pledged deeper ties with its neighbors to foster common development and stability, following a central conference on work related to neighboring countries, which saw Chinese ambassadors from around the region gather in Beijing this week.
The diplomats and experts attending the conference said the country is working to promote regional collaboration amid growing global uncertainties, strengthening its ties with its neighbors in a way that takes account of both the regional and the global context.
"The trade volume between China and Malaysia reached 212 billion U.S. dollars [in 2024], marking an 11.4 percent year-on-year increase. A large number of infrastructure projects including highways, bridges, ports, terminals and hydropower stations are being implemented across Malaysia. China-Malaysia cooperation epitomizes the broader collaboration between China and ASEAN. We are confident that under the strategic guidance of both countries' leaders, bilateral relations will reach new heights," said Ouyang Yujing, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia.
"ASEAN and China are geographically close and culturally connected, making ASEAN our important partner for development cooperation. Our combined population exceeds 2 billion, representing a massive market with sustained rapid economic growth in recent years and promising prospects," said Hou Yanqi, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN.
Other Chinese diplomats said China was being guided by the principles of amity, security, prosperity and win-win cooperation, to promote a shared future with neighboring countries, using its own development to spur regional growth.
This vision has led to concrete achievements, with a consensus on a shared future agreed with 17 neighboring states, Belt and Road cooperation agreements in effect with 25, and 18 regional nations now counting China as their largest trade partner. These deepening political and economic ties have cleared a path toward warm neighborly relations and mutual prosperity, according to other ambassadors.
"China has established comprehensive strategic partnerships with all Central Asian countries and signed Belt and Road cooperation documents. We are jointly committed to building a community with a shared future," said Han Chunlin, China's Ambassador to Kazakhstan.
"The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as a pioneering project of the Belt and Road Initiative, has attracted over 25 billion U.S. dollars in direct investment and created 230,000 jobs. It has not only elevated China-Pakistan cooperation but also contributed to Pakistan's economic and social development," said Jiang Zaidong, the Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan.
As the global challenges brought by unilateralism and economic protectionism grow, China remains steadfast in advancing its vision of a shared future, strengthening partnerships with neighboring countries to anchor stability and renew hope, according to China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong.
"We must steadfastly uphold fairness and justice, adhere to true multilateralism, safeguard the interests of developing countries, maintain the authority of international law, and firmly oppose 'might makes right'," he said.
"Our world has become highly interdependent. Attempts at 'decoupling' or forced division are not only impossible but also go against historical trends. We must promote shared development through global cooperation. This represents the true exemplar of major-country responsibility," said Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University.
China pledges deeper cooperation with neighbors to foster stability
