Beijing's first cross-Straits hospital operational

A maternity hospital built jointly by medical institutions from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan was formally put into operation in Beijing on Thursday.

Baodao Healthcare, with an investment of 200 million yuan (31.75 million U.S. dollars), is the first mainland-Taiwan joint hospital registered in Beijing since the signing of the landmark Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010.

The hospital marks a positive development, as the ECFA only allowed Taiwan hospitals to operate in five provinces and municipalities, excluding Beijing, said Li Bingcai, vice chairman of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), at a ceremony.

The hospital was also assigned to specially serve residents of Taiwan living in Beijing.

Cross-Strait cooperation in the medical sector will pick up once the two sides finish negotiations on a follow-up agreement to the ECFA on service trade, Li said.

The hospital currently has 226 medical staff, including 17 doctors from Taiwan, and provides 50 beds for expectant mothers.

Yu Chien-jen, the hospital president, told Xinhua that the hospital will introduce the latest maternity technologies and management techniques from Taiwan