China's Top Departments: Infectious Diseases & Liver Disease at Nanfang Hospital (Guangzhou)

For readers in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and worldwide: if you or a loved one is living with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C — especially if you are seeking evaluation for a functional cure and access to frontier treatment options — or dealing with cirrhosis, liver cancer, fatty liver or other liver diseases, the Department of Infectious Diseases (Liver Disease Center) at Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, in Guangzhou is one of China's most academically accomplished infectious disease and hepatology centers.

About the Hospital

Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University was founded in 1941. Also known as the First Affiliated Hospital and First School of Clinical Medicine of Southern Medical University, it is a large comprehensive Grade 3A (tertiary) hospital, one of China's "Top 100 Hospitals," and serves as an output hospital for the development of National Regional Medical Centers.

In the Fudan Edition of the 2023 Ranking of Chinese Hospitals (General), Nanfang Hospital was rated A++++ (the highest tier) — one of only two hospitals in Guangdong Province to reach the top tier. In the companion 2023 Fudan Specialty Reputation Ranking, the hospital has 8 specialties ranked among the national top 10, including infectious diseases, nephrology, pathology, hematology and gastroenterology. Among these, infectious diseases and hepatology is one of Nanfang Hospital's traditional strengths.

• Main Campus: No. 1838 Guangzhou Avenue North, Jingxi Street, Baiyun District, Guangzhou — a garden-style campus at the eastern foot of Baiyun Mountain, right next to the Metro ("Jingxi Nanfang Hospital" station)
• Zengcheng Campus: No. 28 Chuangxin Avenue, Ningxi Street, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

Guangzhou is a major transportation hub in South China, easily reached via Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway (connecting to Hong Kong West Kowloon) — convenient for patients from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and beyond.

International Services

Nanfang Hospital is one of the earliest public hospitals in China to provide international medical services. Its international service began with the "Huiqiao Building," established in 1979 (today's Huiqiao Medical Center) — the first international medical center in China, known as "China's No. 1 building for international medical services."

• The Huiqiao Medical Center is the largest independent international medical center in China, pioneering a "medical care + tourism" model and a "general practice + specialty" international service model
• Its international medical service network covers 92 countries and regions worldwide, with over 260,000 patient visits served to date
• In March 2026, Nanfang Hospital was selected as one of the first batch of Guangdong Province International Medical Service Pilot Hospitals (25 hospitals province-wide, 2026–2027 cycle)

For patients from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and other international locations, the hospital offers well-established international care pathways and a one-stop, integrated general-and-specialty service, with long-standing international exchange and research collaboration in infectious diseases and hepatology.

About the Department

The Department of Infectious Diseases (also the Liver Disease Center) at Nanfang Hospital is a high-level clinical infectious disease department in South China integrating clinical care, teaching and research, and one of the hospital's traditional strengths. In 2011, it led the establishment of the Institute of Liver Diseases, Southern Medical University, forming a clinical and basic research team centered on liver diseases.

Key academic platforms and designations include:

• National Key Discipline — Gastroenterology (Liver Disease Division)
• Guangdong Provincial Key Discipline; Guangdong "Project 211" Key Construction Discipline; Guangdong Provincial Key Medical Specialty
• Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Ministry of Education
• Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research
• (Incoming) Chair Institution of the Chinese Medical Association Society of Infectious Diseases; Chair Institution of the Guangdong Medical Association Society of Infectious Diseases
• Doctoral degree authorization site and member of the clinical medicine postdoctoral mobile station

The department covers hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis and its complications, liver failure, comprehensive medical management of liver cancer, non-viral liver diseases, autoimmune liver disease, fever of unknown origin and complex infectious diseases. It also leads the Nanfang Hospital Liver Cancer Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), creating an integrated "chronic hepatitis – cirrhosis – liver tumor" prevention and treatment system.

The team includes 15 professors and associate professors (3 of whom receive the State Council Special Government Allowance), 3 doctoral supervisors and 8 master's supervisors.

Academic Standing

• Fudan Specialty Reputation Ranking — Infectious Diseases ranked among the national top 10 (2023; Fudan Edition of the Ranking of Chinese Hospitals)
• National Key Discipline — Gastroenterology (Liver Disease Division); Guangdong Provincial Key Discipline; Guangdong "Project 211" Key Construction Discipline; Guangdong Provincial Key Medical Specialty
• (Incoming) Chair Institution of the Chinese Medical Association Society of Infectious Diseases; Chair Institution of the Guangdong Medical Association Society of Infectious Diseases
• Host institution of the Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Ministry of Education and the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research
• Doctoral degree authorization site and clinical medicine postdoctoral mobile station member; lead institution of the Institute of Liver Diseases, Southern Medical University (2011)

Core Technologies

Hepatitis B functional cure — at the international frontier

• In December 2024, a study led by Professor Jinlin Hou (侯金林) — "Xalnesiran With or Without an Immunomodulator in Chronic Hepatitis B" — was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). It was the first study to push the functional cure rate of hepatitis B above 30%; among patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels below 1000 IU/mL, the cure rate reached as high as 47%. The NEJM editorial board invited leading international hepatologists to write an invited editorial on the study.
• The department's hepatitis B cure prediction model, the "GOLDEN Score," was developed from over 10 years of whole-course management data on nearly 10,000 chronic hepatitis B patients. It can predict functional cure an average of 19 months in advance, helping identify the patients most likely to benefit.
• The "Little Shell" project led by Professor Hou reduced mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B to 0.2%, nearly eliminating mother-to-child transmission in newborns.
• Professor Hou is the lead investigator of the registration trial for the new hepatitis B drug bepirovirsen; in March 2026 the drug received "Breakthrough Therapy Designation" in China and was included in the list of products for priority review.
• Professor Hou was lead investigator of China's National Science and Technology Major Projects for chronic hepatitis B treatment across the 11th–13th Five-Year Plans.

Other core clinical areas

• Liver cancer multidisciplinary care (MDT): led by the department, together with hepatobiliary surgery, gastroenterology, medical oncology, interventional radiology, imaging, radiotherapy and pathology
• Complex and critical infectious diseases: liver failure, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, acute-on-chronic liver failure complicated by invasive aspergillosis, and more
• Non-viral liver diseases: fatty liver (NAFLD), alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune liver disease and drug-induced liver injury, with non-invasive liver fibrosis assessment (FibroTouch transient elastography)
• Fever of unknown origin and complex infections: diagnosis and management of unexplained fever and difficult infectious diseases

International research collaboration

The department has established long-term research collaborations with the University of Michigan, the University of Oxford, Stanford University, Nagoya City University (Japan), St Mary's Medical School (UK) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, with findings published in leading international journals.

Expert Team

• Prof. Jinlin Hou (侯金林): Chief Physician, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor; Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases (Liver Disease Center) at Nanfang Hospital and Director of the Guangdong Institute of Liver Diseases. Winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2003); former President of the Chinese Medical Association Society of Infectious Diseases (2013–2016) and former President of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL, 2017); member of the State Council Academic Degrees Committee review group, Executive Committee member of the International Association for the Study of the Liver (IASL), and Vice Chairman of the China Hepatitis Prevention and Control Foundation. He has received 2 Second-Class National Science and Technology Progress Awards and 4 First-Class Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards, has been named an Elsevier "Highly Cited Chinese Researcher" for 7 consecutive years, and has published more than 500 papers — including in NEJM, Nature Medicine, Science and The Lancet family. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of complex and difficult viral hepatitis.
• Prof. Kangxian Luo (骆抗先): A highly respected senior expert in infectious diseases and hepatology, and a well-known authority in hepatitis B prevention and treatment in China.
• Prof. Yuanping Zhou (周元平): Chief Physician / Professor; specializes in hepatitis C, hepatitis B, cirrhosis, fatty liver, alcoholic liver disease, liver cancer and their complications.
• Prof. Rong Fan (樊蓉): Professor; co-developer, with Professor Jinlin Hou, of the "GOLDEN Score" hepatitis B cure prediction model.

(Titles and appointments are subject to the hospital's latest official information.)

Who May Benefit

• Patients with chronic hepatitis B or C, especially those seeking evaluation for functional cure and access to frontier treatment options
• Patients with cirrhosis and its complications, or liver failure
• Patients with liver cancer (comprehensive medical management, MDT multidisciplinary care, targeted/immunotherapy combined with interventional treatment)
• Patients with non-viral liver diseases such as fatty liver, alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune liver disease and drug-induced liver injury
• Patients with fever of unknown origin or complex/difficult infectious diseases
• Hepatitis B virus carrier mothers seeking mother-to-child transmission prevention counseling

Address and Contact

• Main Campus: No. 1838 Guangzhou Avenue North, Jingxi Street, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (Metro "Jingxi Nanfang Hospital" station)
• Zengcheng Campus: No. 28 Chuangxin Avenue, Ningxi Street, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou
• Main switchboard: 020-61641114; Appointment line: 020-61641888
• Website: http://www.nfyy.com
• International medical services: Huiqiao Medical Center (Huiqiao Building, established 1979) — China's first international medical center

For another signature specialty at the same hospital, see our nephrology department at Nanfang Hospital spotlight. For infectious diseases in another top center, see the Department of Infectious Diseases at Tangdu Hospital.

This information is compiled from the official website of Nanfang Hospital and public reports. It is for reference only; the hospital's latest official information shall prevail.