German conglomerate Siemens and hospital operator Asklepios Kliniken yesterday signed an agreement with Tongji University to jointly build a 1-billion-yuan Sino-German Friendship Hospital in Shanghai.

Tongji University will hold 46 percent of the shares and Siemens 40 percent. The first phase of construction is scheduled to be completed in 2009. It will start operations before the World Expo 2010.

"All partners contribute their individual core competencies: Tongji University adds its medical and scientific know-how; Siemens its expertise in structured finance, clinical workflow and hospital technology solutions; and Asklepios Kliniken its experience as an operator of more than 100 hospitals," said Wolfgang Bischoff, managing director of Siemens Project Ventures, the equity arm of Siemens and joint-venture partner of the Sino-German Friendship Hospital.

Siemens is making great efforts to provide tailor-made products and solutions to customers in China in both high-end and low-end market segments, said Richard Hausmann, Siemens China president and CEO.

"While the Sino-German hospital project speaks for our capabilities and commitment to meet the needs of China's leading medical institutions, our recent $10 million investment in the development of rural healthcare solutions as part of the Clinton Global Initiative highlights our engagement in the development of basic and widely affordable solutions as well."

Siemens will also open a research and development center for medical imaging technology later this year near the hospital in the Shanghai International Medical Zone.

"Together with our partners, we pave the way toward a high-quality, patient-centered medical care in China - highly efficient with the best and the most effective processes. The Sino-German Friendship Hospital will impressively show that trendsetting medical technologies and powerful IT for process optimization play a decisive role to reach this goal," said Siegfried Russwurm, member of the executive management board of Siemens Medical Solutions.

The joint venture agreement was signed yesterday in the presence of President Hu Jintao and his German counterpart Horst Kohler. In November 2005, they signed a memorandum of understanding for the project in Berlin.