The Zhuhai-Macao Translational Medical Center and Institute broke ground at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai on June 21.

The center, being built at a cost of 2 billion yuan ($279 million), will become a complex for the treatment of major diseases and translational medicine research. It integrates clinical research-oriented diagnosis and treatments, industry-oriented technologies, and data-intensive support platforms.

Rendering of Zhuhai-Macao Translational Medical Center and Institute. [Photo by Cheng Lin and Jiang Xin / Zhuhai Daily]

The center will have a total floorage of 102,325.91 square meters (25 acres) and accommodate 1,000 patient beds, among which 300 beds will be reserved for medical research purposes.

The project will cast eyes on innovative breakthroughs in areas of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, tumor diseases, infectious diseases, new marine materials, and medicines, as well as advanced medical manufacturing.

It is expected to fully upgrade the medical technology and biomedicine innovation centers on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, thus enhancing medical services for people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Upon operation, the project will establish the first high-level translational medicine center on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, providing medicine, education, production, and research services at a higher level for Zhuhai and Macao residents.

Gao Song, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of Sun Yat-sen University, spoke highly of the remarkable outcomes that the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University has made in recent years. He expressed the hope that this project will lead Zhuhai's health industry to realize integrated and leapfrog development. It is expected to also assist in constructing the Guangzhou-Zhuhai-Macao Sci-tech Corridor, further supporting Zhuhai in its efforts to become a modernized and international special economic zone.