THE Beijing Tibetan Hospital will be a centre for promoting the medical practices of Chinese ethnic minorities, hospital and government sources said yesterday.

The hospital will expand and incorporate medicine of other ethnic groups, hospital chief Huang Fukai said yesterday at a ceremony inaugurating the hospital's new clinic.

"Medicine of the Mongolian, Uygur, Zhuang, Dai and Korean ethnic groups will gradually be introduced considering their long medical traditions," Huang disclosed.

Having focused exclusively on traditional Tibetan medicine, the Beijing Tibetan Hospital is expanding its facilities and services, hospital sources said.

The new outpatient department is only the starting point in its expansion plan, said Huang.

A special medical and rehabilitation service centre for foreigners has already been established.

A 100-bed inpatient department is on the drawing board.

The State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and State Ethnic Affairs Commission have given the hospital a bigger role.

"It shall also function as a base for research and training," said Jin Erdeng, an official with the traditional Chinese medicine agency. "Training medical workers for minority ethnic groups is a good way to preserve and develop their medical heritages.

"It can be a window on the medical traditions of ethnic minorities," he said.

The Department of the United Front of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is also backing the expansion project.