A World Health Organization (WHO) expert team arrived in Baoding, a city of northern China's Hebei Province, Thursday morning.

The WHO experts are expected to inspect the designated hospitals for the patients of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), visit rural areas of Baoding and talk with local medical workers.

According to the WHO official website, the team is to investigate Hebei's ability "to identify, report, contain, isolate and care for people with the disease, as well as contact tracing to detect potential SARS cases".

Besides Baoding, the expert team will also visit Shijiazhuang, the province's capital.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2003)