With Brexit threatening to drive a wedge between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the country is continuing to strengthen its ties with China.
To emphasize the fact, Alok Sharma, the UK's minister for Asia and the Pacific, visited China's southern city of Guangzhou on Monday morning, leading a delegation of medical companies and institutions.
In his speech at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, the minister said the UK can work with China in many areas like curing cancer. "Cancer is a worldwide problem, China accounts for 20 percent of new diagnosis. And with the collaborations we have, we will see early prevention and early diagnosis and better treatment", said Sharma.
Two years ago, during an official visit to the UK by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two countries signed deals worth over two billion British pounds in the field of healthcare cooperation.
Sharma assured his Chinese hosts that cooperation between the two countries would not be affected by Brexit. He told CGTN that Brexit represents opportunities for the UK and China in trade and healthcare.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, one of the best hospitals in China, has many ties with British universities and hospitals.
Xiao Haipeng, president of the hospital, said Chinese doctors have learned a lot from their British counterparts. He told CGTN: "We have learned a lot in doctors' training, the models, the standards and the protocol of training doctors and nurses. I think it's very helpful for us to train our qualified doctors and nurses for tomorrow."
Facing growing healthcare demands, China has set a goal of training 150,000 doctors and two million nurses by 2020. British companies are helping China to achieve that goal.
Annie Barr International is one of the British companies participating in the training programs. Its CEO Annie Barr said: "There's much to do in China. There's a lot to do in China. We're very busy in helping other organizations training. We've opened up our first clinic in Hangzhou."
Sharma is due to spend a total of five days in China. After leaving Guangzhou, he'll head for the cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen.
