Singapore: Concord Medical Services Holdings, a leading specialty hospital management solution provider and operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, has signed a framework agreement with Beijing International Medical Center (BIMC) to establish a cancer specialty hospital.

Under the agreement, the hospital will be wholly owned by Concord Medical and provide comprehensive cancer therapies, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and gene therapy, to high-end cancer patients. Concord Medical will provide management support, treatment, technology and research to the hospital, including protocols and clinical practice guidelines, by collaborating with top-notch cancer institutions around the world. Concord Medical plans to begin designing of the hospital and other early-stage works soon.

Dr Jianyu Yang, chairman and CEO of Concord Medical, said, "We are excited to participate in the BIMC project, which is expected to develop into a premiere healthcare zone. We will leverage the resources of our international partners, our 15-year experience in cancer radiotherapy and our capital market strength to build a premium private hospital focused on cancer treatment and diagnosis. This agreement marks a milestone in Concord Medical's initiatives to become a cancer specialty hospital management group."

BIMC is a joint project initiated by Beijing municipal government, the Ministry of Health and several other Chinese government agencies. BIMC is planned to occupy a 15 square kilometer area in Tongzhou, an eastern district of Beijing, and will include hospitals, research and education institutions, and a full range of support facilities. The goal is to develop BIMC into a world-class healthcare service industry park over the next decade, using mostly private and foreign investments. BIMC will be operated by market principles, the first of its kind in China.

As one of the five key functional areas of Tongzhou, BIMC is expected to facilitate development of non-government investment in China's healthcare, accelerate diversification of the healthcare industry, better meet the population's healthcare needs, and help Beijing become an international metropolis. Upon completing of the first stage by 2017, BIMC is expected to have established an integrated development framework involving medicine, education, research, recovery and healthcare. When fully established, BIMC is scheduled to have one to two world-class comprehensive full-service hospitals and eight-to-ten specialty hospitals.