At a luncheon with reporters, the university's president and vice-chancellor, Alexander Wai, said the SAR government and mainland authorities have high expectations of the hospital.

“The government has a very high hope. They want us to be a change agent for Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. They want us to be a flagship, and they also want the hospital to push the standardisation of Chinese medicine and also internationalise Chinese medicine," Wai said.

"I also know that the mainland is also very interested to see us push Chinese medicine outside of China, outside of Hong Kong.”

The acting dean of the university’s school of Chinese medicine, Li Min, said the hospital will collaborate with established Chinese medicine hospitals on the mainland and overseas, to learn from their experiences.

"This is the first for Hong Kong to establish the Chinese medicine hospital, but we collaborate with mainland China, for example the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is the biggest Chinese medicine hospital in mainland China, but also we collaborate with another Chinese hospital in Germany. So we learn from them. We also need to create, establish the unique Hong Kong Chinese medicine hospital," Li said.

The new hospital's services will encompass various Chinese medicine specialities, such as external medicine, paediatrics and acupuncture.

Wai also said the university plans to relocate its Kowloon Tong campus to the Northern Metropolis, for more space and better transport links.

He added that he will discuss with the government the future of the current campus.