China's Top Departments: Neurosurgery at Xijing Hospital (Air Force Medical University)

If you or a loved one is facing a brain tumor, a cerebral aneurysm, a pituitary adenoma or serious head trauma, the Department of Neurosurgery at Xijing Hospital in Xi'an is one of northwest China's leading destinations — a National Key Discipline and the PLA Institute of Neurosurgery, founded in 1956 by one of the founding fathers of Chinese neurosurgery, inside a hospital graded A++++ in Fudan's China Hospital Comprehensive Rankings.

Hospital Overview

• Full name: The First Affiliated Hospital of the Air Force Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (publicly known as "Xijing Hospital", also "Air Force Medical University Xijing Hospital").
• Accreditation: Grade 3A (the highest tier) general hospital; graded A++++, the top category of Fudan's China Hospital Comprehensive Rankings (tiered since 2023).
• City and address: No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
• History: Its predecessor was the Central Hospital founded in Yan'an in November 1939; in 1954 the hospitals affiliated with the former Fourth and Fifth Military Medical Universities merged to form the First Affiliated Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University; since October 1984 it has been publicly known as "Xijing Hospital"; in 2017 it was transferred to the Air Force.
• Scale: About 3,122 inpatient beds, roughly 3.8 million outpatient/emergency visits and about 102,000 inpatient admissions per year; it hosts 9 national key disciplines (per public sources).
• Overall standing: Ranked among the top hospitals nationwide in Fudan's China Hospital Comprehensive Rankings for many years (No. 14 nationally in the 2021/2022 lists).
• Transport and location: Located in Xi'an's central urban area (Xincheng District), near Metro Line 1 and multiple bus routes, relatively close to Xi'an Railway Station. Xi'an is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and a key hub of the Belt and Road Initiative, offering geographical and connectivity advantages for visitors and referrals from Central Asia, Southeast Asia and beyond.

Department Overview

• Department: Neurosurgery.
• Founding: Established in 1956 by Professor Tu Tongjin, a founding father of neurosurgery in China; one of the earliest neurosurgery departments established in New China.
• Facilities and scale: General wards and a dedicated intensive care unit (ICU), together with independent specialty operating rooms (7 operating theatres) and an anesthesia system.
• Activity (public data): About 42,000 outpatient/emergency visits, over 5,000 inpatient admissions and more than 3,800 operations per year.
• Clinical strengths: Recognized as nationally leading in the diagnosis and treatment of craniocerebral trauma (including combat trauma), cerebrovascular diseases, central nervous system tumors and functional disorders.

Academic Standing and Accreditations

• National Key Discipline; a key discipline under the national "211 Project"; a post for Distinguished Professors under the "Changjiang Scholars Program".
• National Key Clinical Specialty; a national "Double First-Class" discipline.
• PLA Institute of Neurosurgery; a "top-priority" discipline of the PLA Medical Research Institutes.
• Doctoral degree-granting discipline; a discipline in the clinical medicine postdoctoral mobile station.
• Among the first national standardized-training bases for neurosurgery specialists in China.
• Research (public data): More than 190 national, military and local research projects undertaken; 22 awards at provincial/ministerial level or above (including 2 National Science and Technology Progress Awards, Second Class); 9 invention patents; 8 software copyrights; 24 monographs as chief editor or chief translator; more than 250 SCI papers published.
• Training: Has trained 5 postdoctoral fellows, 102 doctoral and 150 master's students; most graduates and visiting fellows have become leading figures and technical backbones in neurosurgery in China or the military.

Core Techniques / Featured Conditions

• Craniocerebral trauma care: A traditional strength of the department, with diagnosis and treatment at the leading domestic level.
• Surgical and interventional treatment of cerebrovascular disease: Cerebral aneurysms, cerebrovascular malformations and other cerebrovascular diseases.
• Microsurgery for central nervous system tumors: Skull base tumors, cranial-excranial communicating tumors, meningiomas, gliomas, acoustic neuromas, craniopharyngiomas, pituitary adenomas, etc.; including transsphenoidal (single-nostril, sphenoid sinus approach) removal of pituitary adenomas (minimally invasive, without open craniotomy).
• Spinal and intraspinal tumors: Microsurgery for spinal and intraspinal tumors.
• Functional neurosurgery: Surgical treatment of functional disorders (e.g., trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm).
• Minimally invasive techniques: Extensive use of modern neuroendoscopy and microsurgical techniques.

Expert Team

Tu Tongjin

One of the founding fathers of neurosurgery in China; founded the Department of Neurosurgery at Xijing Hospital in 1956 (department founder).

Zhang Xiang

Professor, Chief Physician, doctoral supervisor; studied in Austria in 1991–1992, receiving the Austrian Ministry of Health's "license to practice" and "visiting researcher" qualifications; specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cranial tumors, spinal tumors, cerebral aneurysms, cerebrovascular malformations, craniocerebral trauma and congenital diseases; highly skilled in neuroendoscopy and microsurgery, notably single-nostril transsphenoidal removal of pituitary adenomas.

Fei Zhou

M.D., Professor, Chief Physician, doctoral supervisor; former Director of the PLA Institute of Neurosurgery, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Xijing Hospital and President of the Xijing Brain Hospital; conducted postdoctoral research in the UK and the USA; clinically specializes in craniocerebral injury, intracranial and intraspinal tumors and occlusive cerebrovascular disease, with particular expertise in microsurgery for skull base tumors and cranial-excranial communicating tumors; received the "Wang Zhongcheng Chinese Neurosurgery Physician Academic Award" in 2008.

Jiang Xiaofan

Deputy Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Xijing Hospital (per public conference reports).

Titles and clinic schedules of other experts are subject to the hospital's and authorized platforms' current announcements.

Suitable Conditions

• Craniocerebral trauma and severe traumatic brain injury (combat-trauma care is a traditional strength)
• Cerebrovascular disease: cerebral aneurysms, cerebrovascular malformations, cerebral ischemia/occlusive cerebrovascular disease
• Central nervous system tumors: meningiomas, gliomas, pituitary adenomas, acoustic neuromas, craniopharyngiomas, skull base tumors, cranial-excranial communicating tumors
• Spinal and intraspinal tumors
• Functional disorders: trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm and other functional neurosurgical conditions
• Patients requiring neuroendoscopic/microsurgical minimally invasive procedures

Address and Contacts

• Address: No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
• Main lines: 029-88886666 / 029-84775507 / 029-84774114 (subject to the hospital's official current listings)
• Website: xjwww.fmmu.edu.cn (First Affiliated Hospital of the Air Force Medical University / Xijing Hospital)

For a quick overview of the department, see the Xijing Hospital Neurosurgery department page.

Facing neurosurgical care decisions? Contact Medora for a free, personalized consultation and let our care team help you navigate treatment options in China.