From January 22 to 24, President Luo Fengming and Vice President Wang Kunjie of West China Hospital (WCH) led a delegation to visit the United Kingdom and Italy. Representatives from the Departments of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Hematology, Cardiology, and International Office, among others, participated in the visit. During the visit, based on the proposal of the China-UK University Consortium on Medicine and Health, Sichuan University and the University of Oxford reached a consensus on jointly organizing the inaugural China-UK Annual Conference. The first annual roundtable conference is scheduled to be held in Chengdu in 2024, focusing on global cancer control. WCH and the University of Oxford renewed their academic cooperation agreement. Additionally, WCH signed a collaboration agreement with Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and its affiliated Gemelli Hospital, promoting collaboration in medical education and research across multiple clinical departments.

The China-UK University Consortium on Medicine and Health is a non-profit academic organization jointly led by Sichuan University and the University of Oxford, with nine participating universities from both China and the UK. In December 2023, the 18 universities reached a consensus on the mission, vision, and specific cooperation models of the consortium, proposing the "Initiative on the resolution of global health challenges through China-UK collaboration." The initiative clarifies that the consortium not only promotes academic exchange and talent cultivation through high-level China-UK medical cooperation but also serves as an open platform to enhance public awareness of global health challenges. The consortium will address key issues through the China-UK Annual Roundtable Forum, seeking solutions through China-UK medical cooperation to contribute to the construction of a global health community.

In the presence of both university presidents, WCH renewed the academic cooperation agreement with Oxford’s Oncology Department. Professor David Kerr of the University of Oxford introduced the achievements of the two sides in basic and translational research in the field of gastrointestinal oncology over the past five years and looked forward to further cooperation in multiple fields, disciplines, and dimensions in the future.

This successful visit has expanded the scope of hospital-level cooperation on the "new plateau" in Europe. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy, founded in 1921, has four campuses, including Rome and Milan. Its affiliated Gemelli Hospital was named the best hospital in Italy by Newsweek magazine. In the official meeting between the WCH team and the Acting President, Professor Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, a formal cooperation agreement was signed between West China Hospital and Gemelli Hospital. Both parties expressed the hope that through this visit, while deepening medical cooperation, they could explore the possibility of expanding cooperation in global economic management, social and cultural development, contributing to exchanges between China and Italy.