Mainland licenses for 577 Taiwan doctors

BEIJING - A total of 577 doctors from Taiwan have obtained professional licenses for the Chinese mainland since 2009, according to official statistics revealed at a seminar on cross-Strait medical exchanges on Friday in Beijing.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, more and more Taiwanese doctors want to pursue their careers on the mainland, motivated by the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, and a medical cooperation pact in 2010.

The number of Taiwan doctors applying for mainland licenses is just one of many signs of warming cross-Strait medical cooperation, including information sharing on epidemics, Taiwan doctors who volunteer to treat mainland patients in poverty-stricken areas, and exchanges of medical students.

It was not until 2007 that Taiwan medical graduates were allowed to hold the mainland licenses.