First wholly Taiwan-owned hospital opens in Shanghai

2012/06/26 23:13:24 Shanghai, June 26 (CNA) A Taiwanese-owned private hospital opened in Shanghai Tuesday to become the first wholly Taiwan-funded hospital in China following the signing of a landmark cross-Taiwan Strait trade deal. The Landseed International Hospital is the first of its kind to be established in China since the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010. The Chinese government had previously only allowed foreign companies to set up joint venture hospitals. The hospital targets high-end customers, including Taiwanese businessmen in China, as well as foreigners and deep-pocketed patients living in Shanghai. Chang Huan-chen, executive director of the Taiwan-based Landseed International Medical Group and superintendent of the hospital, said 90 percent of the doctors will be Taiwanese with more than 10 years of residency training. The remaining 10 percent, he added, will come from the United States and various other countries. The doctors will be paid a monthly salary of between 100,000 yuan (US$15,710) and 200,000 yuan, which is more than they could expect to be paid in Taiwan, Chang said. Spending a night at the hospital's VIP room costs 5,888 yuan, according to the hospital's website. The opening was attended by political figures from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including former Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan, former opposition Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung, former People First Party Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung, and Ye Kedong, a deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council. Wei Ying-chiao, chairman of the Ting Hsin International Group, a Taiwanese-owned food manufacturer based in China, also attended. (By Rita Cheng and Ann Chen) ENDITEM/J