Tsinghua University announced the official opening of its medical school recently.

Wu Jieping, a noted physician and also vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), was named president of the medical school. He is also member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The new school has three departments: medical sciences, pharmacy and biomedical engineering.

The medical school will draw teaching experience from foreign counterparts and adopt English teaching materials. Lessons given in English are also planned, according to sources.

The school will be built into a high-level and research-oriented facility and is meant to become a base for training high-quality medical talents and developing new medical technologies and medicines, said Wang Dazhong, president of the university.

Professor Wang also noted at the ceremony that the establishment of the School of Medicine would help Tsinghua become a world-renowned comprehensive university.

The school signed cooperative memorandum with the medical college of the University of Hong Kong to strengthen exchanges in teaching and information.