Patients in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province may feel happy and relieved because they can easily have access to medical experts from Beijing without traveling to the capital city, which boasts better medical quality but is about 300 kilometers away.

Since last year, Shijiazhuang People's Hospital, a major hospital in the city, has carried out practical cooperation with Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, with experts from Beijing regularly working at the hospital in Shijiazhuang.

The hospital in Beijing has dispatched more than 160 doctors to work with its partner in Shijiazhuang for operations, consultations, outpatient care, and making rounds in inpatient wards.

In addition, nine medical experts from Beijing have been assigned to leading posts at the partner hospital in different departments, including the ophthalmology department and cardiac surgery department, according to Cao Qinying, Party chief of the Shijiazhuang People's Hospital.

"Coming to our hospital to see a famous doctor from Beijing has become a benefit for local patients," she said.

According to Cao, patients aren't the only ones benefiting from the partnership. Doctors and nurses in their hospital are also making full use of the communication with hospitals in Beijing to improve their ability in treating patients.

She added that in addition to the Peking University People's Hospital, the hospital in Shijiazhuang also cooperates with other hospitals in Beijing, like the Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, which jointly founded a center in Shijiazhuang for coping with issues of dementia and cognitive disorder in April.