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

If you or your child needs ear reconstruction, burn-scar revision, craniofacial surgery, complex reconstructive microsurgery — or aesthetic surgery with a reconstructive-grade team — the Department of Plastic Surgery at Xijing Hospital, widely known as the "Xijing Plastic Surgery Hospital", is one of China's leading destinations. Founded in 1955 by Professor Wang Liangneng, one of the founders of plastic surgery in China, it is one of the country's earliest plastic surgery departments and the only PLA Plastic Surgery Research Institute. It performed China's first face transplant in 2006 — the second in the world — and its body-surface organ reconstruction and scar management programs are nationally leading. The hospital sits in central Xi'an — the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and a key node of the Belt and Road Initiative — with convenient access for patients traveling from Central Asia, Southeast Asia and beyond.

Hospital Overview

• Full name: First Affiliated Hospital of the Air Force Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (known as "Xijing Hospital").
• Level: Grade 3A (highest tier) general hospital; rated A++++ — the top band of the Fudan "China Hospital Rankings" (banded ranking since the 2023 edition).
• City and address: No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
• History: Traces its roots to the Central Hospital founded in Yan'an in November 1939; in 1954 the hospitals of the former 4th and 5th Military Medical Universities merged to form the First Affiliated Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University; in October 1984 it adopted the name "Xijing Hospital"; in 2017 it was transferred to the Air Force.
• Scale: About 8,000 staff, roughly 3,122 authorized beds, about 3.8 million outpatient/emergency visits and about 102,000 inpatient admissions per year (public figures); other public figures cite a campus of about 430 mu (≈28.7 ha), building area of about 500,000 m², about 3,000 beds, 9 national key disciplines, 17 national key clinical specialties (military projects) and 12 PLA medical research institutes.
• Overall standing: Ranked among the top 20 nationally in the Fudan "China Hospital Rankings" (No. 14 in the 2021/2022 lists); public materials also describe it as among the very top hospitals in China.
• "Hospitals within a hospital": The hospital has built six specialty sub-hospitals covering digestive diseases, orthopedics, brain, cardiovascular disease, dermatology and plastic surgery; the Department of Plastic Surgery (Xijing Plastic Surgery Hospital) is one of them.
• Milestones: In 2006 the hospital performed the first "face transplant" (composite facial tissue transplantation) in China and the second in the world.
• Location and access: Located in Xi'an's central Xincheng District, near Metro Line 1 and multiple bus lines, and relatively close to Xi'an Railway Station. Xi'an is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and a key node of the Belt and Road, offering convenient access for patients from Central Asia, Southeast Asia and beyond.

Department Overview

• Name: Department of Plastic Surgery (also known as "Xijing Plastic Surgery Hospital", one of the hospital's specialty sub-hospitals).
• Founding and positioning: Founded in 1955 by Professor Wang Liangneng, one of the founders of plastic surgery in China. It is one of the earliest plastic surgery departments in the country and the first such specialty in northwest China.
• Academic platforms: Designated in 1986 as the only PLA Plastic Surgery Specialty Technical Center; in 2006 as the only PLA Plastic Surgery Research Institute; in 2007 as a National Key (Cultivated) Discipline; a key discipline under the national "211" and military "2110" programs; approved in 1986 for doctoral degrees and part of a clinical medicine postdoctoral station.
• Team: 25 physicians, including 5 professors (chief physicians), 6 associate professors (associate chief physicians) and 7 attending physicians; 2 doctoral supervisors and 2 master's supervisors; most hold doctoral degrees, and several have studied in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan (public figures).
• Wards and operating rooms: Two wards with 80 specialty beds, plus dedicated specialty operating rooms (9 operating tables); separate general and aesthetic clinics, with an aesthetic clinic under construction exceeding 1,400 m².
• Seven specialty groups: organ reconstruction, trauma repair, skin tumors, craniomaxillofacial, scars, breast plastic surgery and aesthetic surgery.
• Activity (public figures): more than 40,000 outpatient visits and more than 10,000 operations per year (about two-thirds of them aesthetic procedures), with nearly 2,500 inpatients per year.
• Laboratory: About 400 m² of specialty laboratory space with units for molecular biology, cell culture, histopathology, microsurgery, animal experiments and image processing.

Academic Standing and Accreditation

• Unique PLA platforms: In 1986 the only PLA Plastic Surgery Specialty Technical Center; in 2006 the only PLA Plastic Surgery Research Institute.
• National Key (Cultivated) Discipline (2007); key discipline under the national "211" and military "2110" programs.
• Fudan specialty reputation: The department has long been ranked among the top in China in the Fudan "China Hospital Specialty Reputation Ranking" (listed in the 2021 edition for plastic surgery; public pages place it among the country's leading plastic surgery programs, with slight year-to-year variation in exact position).
• Teaching and research: More than 40 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and provincial/ministerial funds (5 NSFC projects currently active); the laboratory publishes 20–30 papers a year (3–5 of them SCI-indexed); 9 authored monographs, a Chinese translation of Plastic Surgery, and more than 600 published papers.
• Awards (public information): Senior physicians of the department have received national awards including a first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award; the department has produced systematic results in body-surface organ reconstruction and scar management.

Core Techniques and Signature Conditions

• Body-surface organ reconstruction: A distinctive strength and a nationally leading field — reconstruction of ears, nose, fingers, penis, vagina and breast.
• Ear reconstruction and auricular deformity repair: Repair of auricular deformities, total ear reconstruction, and clinical use of skin soft-tissue expansion are signature directions.
• Post-burn/post-trauma scars and scar management: Repair and prevention of post-burn and post-trauma scars and hypertrophic scars is a long-standing strength.
• Craniomaxillofacial surgery: Craniofacial surgery, repair of craniomaxillofacial fractures, correction of congenital deformities, orthognathic surgery and distraction osteogenesis.
• Trauma repair and microsurgery: Skin injuries, repair of trauma and post-trauma deformities, microsurgical reconstruction and skin soft-tissue expansion.
• Skin and body-surface tumors: Plastic-surgical reconstruction after excision of skin and body-surface tumors.
• Aesthetic and endoscopic plastic surgery: Eye, nose and breast aesthetic surgery, facial rejuvenation, liposuction and body contouring, endoscopic minimally invasive aesthetic surgery and laser aesthetics.
• Composite facial tissue transplantation ("face transplant"): Xijing Hospital performed China's first and the world's second face transplant in 2006.

Expert Team

• Guo Shuzhong: Chief physician, professor and doctoral supervisor; former Director and academic leader of the PLA Plastic Surgery Research Institute at Xijing Hospital, known as "China's first face transplant surgeon" (he led China's first face transplant in 2006); specialties include body-surface organ reconstruction (ears, nose, penis, vagina, etc.), trauma repair and aesthetic surgery (public information; described as a former/historical leadership role).
• Song Baoqiang: Chief physician, professor and doctoral supervisor; Director/head of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Xijing Hospital (public information); specialties include repair of trauma and post-trauma deformities, correction of congenital hand and foot deformities, eye, nose and breast aesthetic surgery, and revision of problematic operations; visiting study at MD Anderson (UT), Stanford University Hospital and Asan Medical Center in Korea; 3 NSFC projects and 4 Shaanxi provincial projects; more than 110 papers (over 20 SCI-indexed).
• Ma Xianjie: Chief physician, professor and doctoral supervisor; Director of Xijing Plastic Surgery Hospital (the specialty sub-hospital) (public information); three decades in plastic surgery, with expertise in congenital deformities, trauma, scar treatment and infected wound repair, and a distinctive strength in skin soft-tissue expansion and scar management.
• Lu Kaihua / Li Huiyuan: Senior renowned experts (Grade 1/Grade 2 professors and doctoral supervisors) with deep achievements in repair of post-burn/post-trauma deformities and organ reconstruction, and in scar management and flap research, respectively.

Suitable Conditions

• Body-surface organ defects and deformities: microtia/anotia and other auricular deformities, nasal defects, breast defects/loss, and reconstruction needs of the perineum and body surface
• Post-burn/post-trauma scars, hypertrophic scars and scar contracture deformities
• Craniomaxillofacial congenital deformities and injuries: cleft lip and palate, hemifacial atrophy, maxillofacial fractures, malocclusion/asymmetric jaw deformities, and distraction osteogenesis needs
• Plastic-surgical reconstruction after excision of body-surface/skin tumors
• Congenital hand and foot deformities, replantation of severed fingers/limbs, complex wounds and microsurgical repair
• Aesthetic needs: eye, nose and breast surgery, facial rejuvenation, liposuction and body contouring, endoscopic minimally invasive aesthetics and laser aesthetics
• Correction of problems/complications after plastic and aesthetic procedures

Address and Contact

• Address: No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province
• Switchboard: +86-29-88886666 / +86-29-84775507 / +86-29-84774114 (subject to the hospital's official daily announcements)
• 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 Plastic Surgery department page.

Considering reconstructive or aesthetic plastic surgery in China? Contact Medora for a free, personalized consultation. We'll review your condition, connect you with the right specialist team, and coordinate your entire journey — from medical record translation to treatment scheduling and follow-up.