Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Medicine has opened an office in Beijing that will help pioneer research into diabetes in China that experts hope will have global significance.

The tape was cut by the university's Vice-Chancellor Andrew Hamilton shortly after he met Health Minister Chen Zhu, with whom he discussed the importance of international collaboration on health matters and the strength of Oxford's medical research. Professor Hamilton said the minister gave his strong support to the venture and said Oxford University was "extremely important to China".

The 40 million euro ($50.29 million) research will be overseen by Rury Holman, a professor of diabetic medicine and director of the Oxford Diabetes Trials Unit.

He said one of the problems being faced in China was the rapid socio-economic changes being experienced, with lifestyle and diet changes causing diabetes to develop faster than anywhere else in the world.

"It is an economic nightmare because of the cost," he told an audience gathered to mark the occasion. "It shortens life by five to 10 years. It doubles the risk of stroke or heart disease."

The trials unit is the largest academic research organization worldwide that specializes in performing diabetes-related mega trials. It designs, runs and analyses large-scale interventional clinical outcome trials nationally and internationally, often in collaboration with other research organizations and pharmaceutical companies.

The unit also undertakes major modeling and statistical programs to utilize fully the data available from its many studies with a particular emphasis on modeling diabetes and cardiovascular disease processes. It maintains DNA, urine and plasma biobanks and facilitates the genomic, proteomic and metabonomic evaluation of these materials.

In addition, the unit evaluates novel treatments and devices for the therapy of diabetes trials and undertakes research into potential new therapeutic agents.

It is a founder member of the Oxford Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, which forms part of the four-star rated University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Medicine.

The new office, overlooking the CCTV building in the central business district, is recruiting 7,500 patients in China with cardiovascular disease with the help of 150 hospitals across the country to conduct trials involving different treatments.

"It's the start of big things," said Professor Peter Ratcliffe, head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine. "China offers great potential for this study. It has a huge medical system. Its electronics systems are well organized. It will be very valuable for understanding the reasons for the disease and potentially their correction. The size of China's population will help in diagnosis."

The new office is officially known as the Oxford University Beijing and Science Technology Company Ltd. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford in Beijing, "underpinning the collaboration between the best of East and West in a global approach to medical research", said Professor Hamilton.

Oxford was recently ranked the best university in the world for medical sciences by the UK's Times Higher Education newspaper world rankings). It is collaborating with Chinese researchers to look at diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, depression, cancer and a range of other health issues.

Professor Hamilton was also in Hong Kong in May. He said: "While Oxford is known throughout the world for its strength in the humanities and social sciences, perhaps less is known outside the UK about the university's exceptional range and depth of scientific work. Our medical research is world-leading and is particularly global in outlook, not only dealing with diseases that kill millions worldwide such as HIV, TB, malaria, heart disease, cancer and diabetes, but also working with partners around the world to help undertake research and set up health projects in many different countries. We have many important collaborations in China and on this trip I look forward to celebrating them."

Professor Hamilton hosted an event at the Kerry Hotel showcasing world-leading medical scientists from Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine who are collaborating with Chinese colleagues in projects on infectious diseases, diabetes, disaster response and primary care, as well as the China Kadoorie Biobank, a joint project between the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Oxford University that is looking at the health outcomes of half a million Chinese people.

In Hong Kong, Professor Hamilton introduced Professor Russell Foster, one of the world's leading experts in sleep and circadian (body clock) neuroscience. The presentation Pillow Talk - The Biology of Sleep took place at the Hong Kong Football Club.

"We are beginning to understand how the brain generates sleep and why sleep is an essential part of our biology," said Professor Foster. "But until recently we had little idea why we spend 30 percent of our lives asleep. The loss and disruption of sleep results in a broad range of interconnected illnesses, ranging across reduced mental and physical reaction times, reduced motivation, memory loss, depression, metabolic problems, immune impairment and even a greater risk of cancer."

Professor Foster also talked to 200 students aged 14 to 18 at the Academy of Gifted Education on the topic of The Rhythms of Life - the Biological Clocks that Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing.