Ireland has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China on health co-operation.

It came as part of an official visit there by Minister James Reilly.

The main areas include health regulation, e-Health and telemedicine, medical professional training, health promotion, maternal and child health, hospital standards and traditional Chinese Medicine.

Speaking at the signing Mr. Reilly said it is an important development and a valuable basis for developing relations.

“We are looking forward to working with Chinese colleagues over the course of the coming years” he added.

He made the announcement with his Chinese counterpart Mr. Chen Zhu.

It will also see the exchange of specialists and the encouragement of direct links between institutions in both countries.

The deal signed today renews a previous Memorandum of Understanding which had been in place between 2004 and 2009.