Liu Yandong, Deputy Prime Minister of China, Visited the Sheba Medical Center

I warmly recommend close cooperation between China and Sheba"

"The visit at the Sheba Medical Center was very impressive. I saw very important things in the field of medical simulation and rehabilitation with the help of advanced technologies. Here we have a strong basis for wide-ranging cooperation between the Chinese health system and the Sheba hospital. I will warmly recommend the tightening and strengthening of our relation with you in different fields and will also welcome Sheba physicians to work in China in order to teach the Chinese staff and improve their abilities." These were the remarks of the Deputy Prime Minister of China, Liu Yandong, during her visit at the Sheba Medical Center. The Deputy Prime Minister of China arrived in Israel heading an 80-people delegation including ministers, deputy ministers, university heads and else.

During her meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, they made a joint statement and announced the beginning of talks between Israel and China in an effort to reach a free trade agreement. In the framework of her visit in Israel, 13 agreements are planned to be signed in different fields, one of them an agreement with the Sheba Medical Center.

LiuYandong and her entourage were welcomed by Prof. Shlomo Noy, acting director of the medical center; Prof. Mordechai Shani, president of the medical research fund and former director of the medical center; and Prof. Amitai Ziv, deputy director of the medical center, director of the center for medical simulation, and director of the unit for treatment quality assurance and risk management. The guest from China was also accompanied by MK Yaakov Litzman, Minister of Health, and the CEO of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Moshe Bar Siman Tov.

Prof. Shani, just back a few days ago from a visit to China where he signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of a huge hospital in West China modeled along the lines of the Sheba Medical Center, gave a detailed description of the business deal and expressed his hope that, despite the great distance and the language barriers, the road had been paved for medical cooperation between Sheba and China. Towards the end of the visit, the deputy prime minister turned to Prof. Shani and thanked him for his words. "I was very impressed with what has been done till now and regard the strengthening of the relation as top priority. I will do my utmost in order to advance and widen the cooperation between your hospital and the Chinese health system as much as possible."

(Center: Liu Yandong flanked by Prof. Shlomo Noy and MK Yaakov Litzman)

Liu Yandong toured the simulation center and listened to Prof. Ziv's explanations. Afterwards she visited the rehabilitation center and, under Prof. Noy's guidance, watched a VR (Virtual Reality) and Locomat implementation presentation.

The Deputy Prime Minister of China remarked at the end of her visit at Sheba that this medical cooperation was most urgent for China. "At Sheba I found a broad and promising field of action for mutual work. I will support this subject and am looking forward to host all of you in China in the future."