Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV) reportedly said yesterday it had signed an agreement with Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China to establish a satellite facility within the upcoming city.
“The hospital has a particular focus in orthopaedics and traumatology, thanks to its in-house research institute and a research laboratory focused on traditional Chinese medicine,” the company was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) yesterday.
“The agreement paves the way for the establishment of Foshan’s first hospital outside China, and potentially the largest traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Malaysia,” it added.
Touted as a futuristic smart city project, Forest City is planned to be built on some 1,400 hectares on four man-made islands.
Costing US$100 billion, it is expected to be completed in about 20 years and will have a range of facilities, including housing units, offices and shopping malls.
China’s recent move to impose measures to control capital flight from its shores has reportedly had a drastic effect on sales, as most of the project’s targeted buyers are said to be from China.
CGPV president and chief strategy officer Yu Runze was quoted by SCMP as saying that the first tranche of apartments are due to be ready next year, but the entire project will not be completed until 2040.
“The project is progressing very smoothly as planned,” Yu said of the joint venture between Country Garden and Malaysian company Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd.
The SCMP report said there are also plans for Forest City to help Malaysian health authorities draw Chinese medical tourists, including those seeking assisted reproductive treatment.
It quoted CGPV as saying that this was “in line with burgeoning interest from the Chinese in medical tourism.”
The company also announced what it billed as the “world’s largest” industrialised building system facility in Forest City, the report said.
Its statement said the facility would “house the entire production base for the construction of Forest City, and integrate construction design, precast concrete production, transportation, processing of accessories, assembly construction, as well as materials research and development.”
“While the initial focus of the facility will be to accelerate the development of Forest City, excess capacity will also be used to support the growing construction opportunities in Southeast Asia,” the company was quoted as saying.