China and Britain jointly formed the Beijing Changyang Diabetes Hospital, the largest of its kind in the Chinese mainland, on Sunday.

"It is a significant step for the two countries to work together in the field of diabetes research," said Wang Zhili, the president of the newly established hospital.

S.R. Bloom, president of the British Endocrine Society, said at the opening ceremony

that with people's lifestyles changing faster and the aging problem becoming more imminent, the incidence and mortality of diabetes grow rapidly, which makes the related research a very important issue around the world.

The hospital, which occupies nearly 10,000 square meters, adopts the same diagnostic and therapeutic standards as the Royal College of Physicians in Britain.

Statistics some 3.2 million people worldwide die of diabetes every year and the figure is still on rise.

Source: Xinhua