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)

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 northeast China). In 2019, the cross-province direct billing scheme cover the entire Hebei Province (a neighboring province).

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 (equivalent to 37 trips along the Earth’s equator), establishing Tianjin as China’s only province-level region achieving 100% newborn cardiac screening coverage (“zero gap”?standard). 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”?(literally meaning “sky”?and “longevity”?in Chinese) 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 Unions

International 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).

Media Coverage and Cultural Impact
Prof. Liu’s pioneering work has been featured extensively across global media. Hundreds of his report have been found in the outlets such as People’s Daily Overseas Edition, Tianjin Daily, the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao?and Wen Wei Po, The Wall Street Journal, and Asahi Shimbun (Japan). He has been featured in China Central Television (CCTV) programs such as Oriental Horizon, China’s Spirit, and Chinese Scholars. He has been the subject of two CCTV documentary films, namely The Quest?and The Backbone. His life story has inspired the feature film The Overseas-Returned Intellect?by Tianjin Film Studio.