Siemens, Asklepios Kliniken and the Tongji University in Shanghai have establishment a joint venture hospital project that will invest more than €100 million (US$141 million) to constructing a hospital in the Shanghai International Medical Zone. The first construction phase of the Chinese-German friendship hospital is to be completed in 2009. The aim is to commission the hospital before the World Expo in 2010 with the prospective of a capacity of initially 250 beds, to be extended in a second phase to 500 beds.

The joint venture comprises the construction and operation of the hospital. The Tongji-University holds 46%, Siemens Project Ventures 40% and Asklepios Kliniken 14% of the shares in the joint venture company.

Siemens was advised by in-house counsel Andrea Liess, while Asklepios was advised by the law firm of Dr. Christoph Partsch, Berlin. Tongji University instructed Chinese law firm Alliance Legal Partnership (ALP) from Shanghai, and was also advised by international firm Beiten Burkhardt. German competition law was covered by Matthias Schroeder and Oliver Schniewind from Beiten Burkhardt's Munich office.

Siemens is one of the largest providers in the healthcare sector worldwide, while Asklepios Kliniken is an international hospital operator that is currently responsible for more than 90 facilities in Germany, Europe and the USA. Tongji University in Shanghai, formerly the Tongji German Medical School (Deutsche Medizinschule f¨¹r Chinesen), was founded in 1907 and is one of the oldest academic institutions in China.