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| INTRODUCTION |
| TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital (TICH) is a public Tertiary Class A (the highest tier in China’s hospital classification system) specialized cardiovascular hospital and research institute invested and established by the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA). Designated as a National Regional Cardiovascular Center under the joint initiative of the National Health Commission and Tianjin Municipality, TICH holds the following distinctions:  Affiliate of the National Clinical Research Center for Cardiovascular Diseases; National reference training center for: catheterization intervention of coronary artery diseases and arrhythmias cardiovascular nursin g and specialized techniques; National Center for Health Education; Tianjin Clinical Research Center for Cardiovascular Diseases; Tianjin University’s Directly Affiliated Hospital and Cardiovascular Research Institute; Clinical Teaching Site for the Cardiovascular Program of Tianjin Medical University; Home to postdoctoral and academician workstations.The Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, Cardiology, and Nursing departments of TICH have been recognized as National Key Clinical Specialties. Additionally, its Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Regulation and Translational Medicine in Cardiovascular Diseases has been certified by the Tianjin Science and Technology Bureau. Innovative Practice of Administration Since its launch in 2003, TICH has implemented a groundbreaking management and operational model – self-developed and fully aligns with China’s 2009 healthcare reform plan issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council (China’s highest authorities). Recognized by Qiushi (CPC’s flagship theoretical journal) as “a trailblazer in public hospital reform,” TICH’s transformative measures include: Staffing and salary reform: Instead of the traditional tenured positions with administrative rankings (common in public service institutions), TICH adopted contract-based employment, eliminating bureaucratic hierarchies. TICH implemented Party Committee-led presidential accountability, with all staff subject to performance-based contract renewal. Performance-based salaries entirely decoupled from hospital revenue (eg. drug/ device sales) has been in place. Billing innovation: TICH has been the first in China to abolish drug/device markup revenues (a major reform target), adopted diagnosis-related group (DRG) payments with insurers to incentivize efficiency. Clinical excellence: TICH has integrated clinical pathways into the hospital information systems (HIS). Vertical oversight and tiered position system are in place for specialized career progression. Streamlined operations: All the support services (eg. housekeeping, logistics) have been outsourced from inception to optimize resource allocation. |
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| Clinical and Charity Services With 500 inpatient beds, TICH offers a full spectrum cardiovascular procedures, spanning common surgical and catheterization procedures to heart transplantation. Guided by its motto “Benevolence and Healthcare for All”, TICH has provided cardiac surgeries and catheterization procedures to more than 300,000 patients across all regions of China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) and multiple countries worldwide (such as the USA, Germany, Canada, Russia and Japan). The 19 successful heart transplantations TICH has completed include one long-term survivor with combined heart-kidney transplantation, one highly complex redo heart transplantation and Tianjin’s first pediatric heart transplant. TICH developed China’s first model of the third-generation artificial heart with complete domestic intellectual property – the HeartCon (commonly known as “Rocket Heart”), an implantable ventricular assist device utilizing magnetic levitation system received national approval for clinical application in 2022. TICH has conducted a comprehensive cardiac screening survey covering 1.6 million children in Tianjin, making the city the only province-level region in China to achieve full-coverage screening for newborns. Additionally, TICH has performed life-saving congenital heart disease (CHD) surgeries for 16,000 orphaned and disadvantaged children from 28 provinces (autonomous regions/municipalities), representing 34 ethnic groups. Since 2011, through partnerships with the China Mobile Charity Foundation, Shanghai Hefu Charity Foundation, and the Chinese Health Law Association, TICH’s mobile screening unit has provided early congenital heart disease (CHD) detection and medical treatment to children in need in 19 provinces and regions, including Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Tibet, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu. Service Accessibility TICH pioneered China's first cross-province medical insurance settlement without requiring referrals, becoming a designated direct-billing hospital for Hebei Province, Hulunbuir, Harbin, Liaobe Oilfield regions. In January 2017, TICH processed China's very first real-time interprovincial medical settlement, marking a major breakthrough in healthcare accessibility nationwide. Awards & Recognitions TICH was recognized as a “Satisfactory Hospital among Tianjin Residents” in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018. TICH was awarded “National Advanced Healthcare Collective” by the Ministry of Human Resources, National Health Commission, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration in 2012. TICH was honored as “National Advanced Collective in Poverty Alleviation” by the CPC Central Committee and State Council (China’s highest authorities) in 2021. Since 2015, TICH has been consecutively named a “National Model Hospital for Healthcare Service Improvement” under the triennial “Further Improving Medical Services Action Plan” initiated by the National Health Commission. TICH’s innovative practices have been featured by leading domestic (Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television, China National Radio, People’s Daily, China Daily, Guangming Daily, and Health News) and international media (Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao and The Wall Street Journal). |
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| PRESIDENT PROFILE |
| Liu Xiaocheng, MD Chief Physician, Professor, and Doctoral Advisor Party Secretary and President of TICH Recipient of the State Council Special Allowance (China’s highest academic honor) Delegate to the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China Healthcare Reform Advisory Expert for the State Council Medical Reform Office Professional leadership roles include: Executive Council Member, Chinese Medical Association Executive Council Member, Chinese Hospital Association Vice President, Asia-Pacific Society for Artificial Organs Member, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Member, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) (the USA) |
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| Pioneering Contributions Prof. Liu was among the first Chinese scholars qualified for overseas training after the founding of New China. Towards the end of his cardiovascular surgery fellowship in Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, he was committed to return and serve his homeland despite his mentor’s offer to stay. His groundbreaking achievements include: In 1987, Prof. Liu founded China’s second specialized cardiovascular hospital—the Mudanjiang Cardiovascular Hospital—where he performed life-saving cardiac surgeries for over 3,000 patients from 23 provinces. In July 1992, Prof. Liu made medical history by performing two heart transplants for end-stage cardiac diseases within just six days. In December 1992, he achieved another milestone by completing China’s first successful heart-lung transplant. Leadership in Beijing (1994-2000) In 1994, Prof. Liu was appointed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Organization Department (the human resource management department of the CPC Central Committee) to assumed key leadership roles in Beijing -- Vice President and Party Secretary in the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College. During this tenure, he established the Cardiac Surgery Department at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and pioneered China’s first total arterial coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), in addition to treating complex congenital and acquired heart diseases. Advanced Leadership Training From September 1995 to July 1996, he participated in the one-year Young and Middle-Aged Cadres Training Program (advanced CPC leadership training) at the CPC Central Party School, further honing his capabilities in healthcare leadership. Commitment to TICH (2000 onwards) In 2000, Prof. Liu resigned from his leadership positions in Beijing to establish TICH in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA). Guided by its motto “Benevolence and Healthcare for All,” TICH has distinguished itself as the only public hospital in China to fully accomplish all national healthcare reform initiatives. Thus, it has been hailed by Qiushi (CPC’s flagship theoretical journal) as “a trailblazer in public hospital reform”. |
| TICH’s core specialties, namely Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, Cardiovascular Medicine and Nursing, have been among China’s first programs achieving National Key Clinical Specialties accreditation. TICH has pioneered medical insurance innovations. In 2007, it became the first cross-province direct billing hospital without referral requirements of Tangshan (a coastal and industrial city about 130 km from Tianjin). In January 2017, TICH processed China’s first real-time interprovincial medical insurance settlement with Jilin Province. In 2019, the cross-province direct billing scheme cover the entire Hebei Province . |
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| Clinical Achievements Over the past two decades since TICH’s founding, Prof. Liu and his team have performed 300,000 cardiac interventions and surgeries for patients from all regions of China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) and international patients (from the U.S., Germany, Canada, Russia, Lebanon, and other countries). The 19 successful heart transplantations Prof. Liu and his team have completed include one highly complex redo heart transplantation, Tianjin’s first pediatric heart transplant, and a combined heart-kidney transplant with exceptional long-term survival. Prof. Liu’s team conducted one of China’s first comprehensive cardiac development survey, examining 1.6 million children across 1.4 million kilometers of travel, establishing Tianjin as China’s only province-level region achieving 100% newborn cardiac screening coverage. Additionally, they have performed free life-saving congenital heart disease (CHD) surgeries for 16,000 orphaned and disadvantaged children, a national record for charitable surgeries by a single hospital. Thus, TICH has earned the prestigious “National Advanced Collective in Poverty Alleviation” honor from CPC Central Committee and State Council (China’s highest authorities). Artificial Heart Research & Development In 2009, Prof. Liu initiated China’s first program of the third-generation artificial heart, developing an implantable magnetically levitated ventricular assist device (VAD) through collaboration with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. This interdisciplinary partnership achieved a milestone in 2013 when the experimental sheep nicknamed “Tianjiu” survived 120 days with the VAD at TICH’s animal lab, setting five national records for device durability and performance. Following the VAD’s regulatory approval for human trials in August 2020, Prof. Liu spearheaded a multi-center trial across 11 leading hospitals, completing 50 successful implantations. These efforts culminated in July 2022 with the device becoming China’s first fully domestically developed VAD to receive approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). In recognition of this achievement, TICH was designated as China’s first national VAD surgical training center in November 2022. To advance the adoption of artificial heart technology, Prof. Liu has performed and supervised VAD surgeries at over 20 premier hospitals across China, such as Peking Union Medical College Hospital, The People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Xiangya Second Hospital of Central South University, and West China Hospital of Sichuan University. His work has provided life-extending treatment to nearly 200 patients with end-stage heart failure. Meanwhile, an advanced next-generation artificial heart system has been developed and progressed to animal testing phases. Prof. Liu’s decade of transformative research has yielded significant academic and technological contributions, including more than 20 patented inventions and utility models, and over 50 high-impact peer-reviewed publications. This comprehensive body of work continues to push the boundaries of cardiovascular medicine in China and beyond. National Honors Prof. Liu has received numerous prestigious awards and titles, including: “National Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Expert” from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security “Outstanding Overseas-Returned Medical Professional” from the Ministry of Health “Overseas-Returned Professional Making Outstanding Contribution” jointly awarded by the State Education Commission and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security “National Outstanding Philanthropist” from the Ministry of Civil Affairs “National May 1 Labor Medal” (China’s highest labor honor) and “National Model Worker” from the All-China Federation of Trade UnionsInternational Distinctions In 2010, Prof. Liu was awarded Cambodia’s Grand Cross of the “Royal Order of the Sahametrei”—the nation’s highest honor for foreigners — issued by King Norodom Sihamoni, with the medal presented by Senate President Chea Sim and witnessed by Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue. Prof. Liu became the second Chinese citizen to receive this distinction. In 2019, he was honored with the “Commemorative Medal for the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China” by the CPC Central Committee, State Council, and Central Military Commission. In addition, Prof. Liu’s achievements have been documented in prominent international biographical references, including the Men of Achievement, International Who’s Who, International Who’s Who of Intellectuals, and Who’s Who in Australasia and the Far East by International Biography Centre (Cambridge, England). His entry is also found in 5000 Personalities of the World, International Directory of Distinguished Leadership, and 500 Leaders of Influence by the American Biographical Institute (based in North Carolina). |
