Minister for Education, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP has welcomed a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM).

The agreement was signed on Monday in Canberra in the presence of Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP and His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China.

Benefits to flow from the partnership include a new researchled Chinese medicine clinic in Sydney, better patient outcomes and the potential for Australia to tap into the $170 billion global traditional Chinese medicine market.

"BUCM is a world.leader in Chinese Medicine and UWS is the home of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM). The three institutions already have a longstanding relationship in both research and education.

"The focus of the new agreement will be the development of an Australianfirst, high quality Chinese medicine service in Sydney, which will have a close connection to both clinical and laboratorybased research.

"Australia is the only Western nation to have a unified national registration of Chinese medicine practitioners and strict regulation of medicines, which delivers safe healthcare to thousands of Australians every year.

"I’m confident that the research will lead to the development of new treatments for unmet medical needs and new medicines for export around the world,” Mr Pyne said.