China's Top Departments: Cardiovascular Medicine at Xi'an Jiaotong University First Affiliated Hospital

If you or a loved one needs cardiovascular care — from complex coronary interventions and arrhythmia ablation to structural heart procedures — the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University is one of the largest and strongest cardiovascular centers in northwest China.

The department is the only key discipline in cardiovascular medicine in Shaanxi Province, a National Key Clinical Specialty, and home to the first national-level Chest Pain Center in Shaanxi. With four wards plus a CCU (203 beds), it treats more than 10,000 inpatients and 140,000+ outpatients each year and performs over 6,000 cardiac interventional procedures annually, backed by an Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and a Molecular Cardiology Laboratory.

At Medora, we've helped international patients access this department for complex coronary interventions, arrhythmia treatment, and structural heart procedures. Here's what you need to know.

The Hospital Behind the Department

The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University is a large Grade 3A hospital administered by China's National Health Commission, located in Xi'an, the central city of northwest China and the starting point of the ancient Silk Road.

• History: Founded in 1937, when faculty and students of Peking University Medical College relocated westward during the War of Resistance; moved to its current site in 1956; renamed after the merger into Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2000.
• Standing: Ranked among the top national hospitals in the National Performance Assessment of Tertiary Public Hospitals in 2018 and 2019 — first in northwest China — and selected as one of the first "mentored" institutions for China's National Medical Center program. It ranked 48th nationally in the 2018 Fudan China Hospital Rankings.
• National Regional Medical Centers: Six specialties, including cardiovascular disease, serve as lead units for National Regional Medical Centers — this department is one of them.
• International orientation: The hospital is a Network Hospital of China's International Emergency Rescue Center and a Shaanxi Provincial Foreign-related Medical Service Unit, with an International Medical Service / VIP clinic. It co-founded the "Sino-American Cardiovascular Cooperative Hospital" together with Washington MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute and the Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute.

Campuses: Main campus at No. 277 Yanta West Road, Yanta District, Xi'an (near the Great Wild Goose Pagoda); South Campus at No. 88 Zhuque Street; plus a Land Port campus. Switchboard: +86-29-85323112 / +86-29-85323888.

Academic Standing and Accreditation

• The only key discipline in cardiovascular medicine in Shaanxi Province
• National Key Clinical Specialty (cardiovascular medicine) with an authorized doctoral degree program
• National Chest Pain Center — the first national-level Chest Pain Center in Shaanxi, running a 24-hour "one-touch catheterization lab activation" system so that acute myocardial infarction patients reach the cath lab without delay
• National training base for cardiovascular intervention of the Ministry of Health
• Shaanxi Provincial Quality Control Center for Cardiovascular Diseases
• Lead unit of a National Regional Medical Center for cardiovascular disease
• Research platforms including the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the Molecular Cardiology Laboratory, supported by Ministry of Education and Shaanxi provincial key laboratories

Core Technologies

The department is equipped with a digital subtraction angiography (DSA) system, large X-ray equipment, myocardial ECT, color cardiac ultrasound, Holter and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Its CCU achieves a success rate above 95% in rescuing critically ill and complex cases.

• Coronary intervention: complex PTCA and stent implantation, with rapid door-to-balloon treatment of acute myocardial infarction through the Chest Pain Center fast track
• Arrhythmia intervention: radiofrequency ablation of the full range of tachyarrhythmias — atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, premature ventricular contractions, ventricular tachycardia — plus pacemaker device implantation for bradyarrhythmia and heart failure
• Structural heart disease intervention: catheter closure of atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus; balloon valvuloplasty for rheumatic mitral stenosis
• Signature techniques: chemical ablation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation
• 2026 frontier work: In May 2026, the team performed a high-risk complex coronary bifurcation procedure with a domestically developed interventional robot — the first in northwest China. In June 2026, the hospital announced the world's first gene therapy to successfully treat homozygous hypercholesterolemia.

Research and International Collaboration

The department has undertaken more than 70 national-level research projects (including "973", "863", "985", National Key R&D Program and National Natural Science Foundation projects), published over 500 papers — more than 100 in SCI-indexed journals — and produced more than 80 monographs. It maintains long-running collaborations with Kyoto University (Japan), the University of Oxford (UK), and the University of Utah School of Medicine (USA).

Expert Team

The team comprises 14 professors, 24 associate professors and 8 doctoral supervisors.

• Yuan Zuyi (袁祖贻) — Chief Physician, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor; Vice President of the hospital, President of the Cardiovascular Hospital and Director of the Department of Internal Medicine. Recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, one of the first Ministry of Education "New Century Talents", and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC); Vice Chairman of the China Chapter of the International Atherosclerosis Society and Standing Committee Member of the Chinese Society of Cardiology. Specializes in complex coronary PTCA and stenting, radiofrequency ablation of tachyarrhythmias, permanent pacemaker implantation, balloon valvuloplasty, and congenital heart defect closure.
• Mu Jianjun (牟建军) — Chief Physician, Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine; specializes in hypertension (especially difficult hypertension), coronary heart disease and heart failure.
• Zhang Yushun (张玉顺) — Chief Physician, Professor; interventional treatment of complex heart disease, congenital heart disease, pulmonary vascular and peripheral vascular disease.
• Ma Aiqun (马爱群) — Chief Physician; coronary heart disease and metabolic hypertension, particularly myocarditis, cardiomyopathy and heart failure.
• Wang Dongqi (王东琦) — Chief Physician; complex coronary intervention, radiofrequency ablation, pacemaker implantation and congenital heart disease intervention.
• Sun Chaofeng (孙超峰) — Chief Physician; cardiac pacing and electrophysiology, arrhythmia and coronary intervention.
• Xue Xiaolin (薛小临) — Chief Physician; arrhythmia treatment and implantation of various artificial cardiac pacemakers.
• Guo Ning (郭宁) — Chief Physician; coronary intervention and management of critical cardiac disease and acute myocardial infarction.
• The wider team also includes experienced specialists such as Wang Yanni, Tian Gang, Fan Fenling and Qiang Hua.

Conditions Suitable for Treatment

• Coronary heart disease, including complex coronary lesions and acute myocardial infarction
• Atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, premature ventricular contractions, ventricular tachycardia and bradyarrhythmia
• Hypertension, including difficult and refractory hypertension
• Heart failure, cardiomyopathy and myocarditis
• Congenital heart disease (ASD, VSD, PDA) and valvular heart disease
• Pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism and peripheral vascular disease
• Rare lipid disorders such as homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (frontier gene therapy exploration)

At a Glance

How Medora Can Help

• Case review by the department's interventional cardiologists before you travel
• Hospital coordination with the international patient department
• Interpreter services (English, Russian) for consultations and procedure reports
• Accommodation and logistics in Xi'an, and remote follow-up after you return home

For related services at the same hospital, see our guides to hepatobiliary surgery at the same hospital and organ transplant at the same hospital.

Contact Medora for a free consultation about cardiovascular treatment at Xi'an Jiaotong University First Affiliated Hospital.

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This article is compiled from the hospital's official website, Xi'an Jiaotong University's official website, the Fudan China Hospital Rankings and public reports; details are subject to the hospital's current announcements.