Taiwan billionaire Wang Yung-ching inaugurated his first hospital in the Chinese mainland on Tuesday.

Wang Yung-ching, 90, attended the opening ceremony of Xiamen Chang Gung Hospital in Fujian Province on China's southeastern coast.

Wang, chairman of Taiwan's largest diversified industrial company Formosa Plastics Group, has been running hospitals in Taiwan since 1976.

Covering 1.4 million square meters in the Haicang District, the hospital in Xiamen has 19 clinic departments and 500 beds. It is a joint venture between Wang and a local company.

Gao Qiang, Party chief of the Ministry of Health, said at the ceremony he hoped that the hospital will serve as a key base for cross-Strait medical exchange and cooperation.

(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2008)