Surgeons from China could soon be trained in laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery at the Anglia Ruskin Colchester Hospital ICENI Centre currently being built at Colchester General Hospital.

A memorandum of understanding was signed during a recent visit to the hospital by a delegation of three surgeons and a manager from the No 3 People's Hospital in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.

Professor Roger Motson and Mr Tan Arulampalam, consultant surgeons based at Colchester General Hospital, made contacts with their Chinese equivalents during a visit to Jiangsu Province in 2008 as part of a trade mission co-ordinated by Essex County Council.

The four-strong delegation from China, who were accompanied by a translator, visited Colchester General Hospital during a recent five-day visit to Britain.

Professor David Humber, Pro Vice Chancellor & Executive Dean, Anglia Ruskin University, met the delegation along with Professor Motson and Mr Arulampalam.

Work began earlier this year on the £2m ICENI Centre, which will help to address the huge shortage of laparoscopic surgeons in the UK and abroad. It is the result of a partnership between Anglia Ruskin University and Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust.

Facilities at the ICENI Centre will include a mock operating theatre equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation and computers for simulating surgery. The two-storey centre will also include seminar rooms, a lecture theatre, an internet café and video links to other training centres in the UK and around the world. Building work on the world-class training and research and development centre for laparoscopic surgery is scheduled to finish later this year.

Colchester General Hospital has one of the largest and most experienced teams of laparoscopic surgeons in the NHS and helped to pioneer the use of keyhole surgery in the UK. The team has built up an international reputation for its work - both in the operating theatre and in training other laparoscopic surgeons.

Laparoscopic surgery offers many advantages over traditional 'open' surgery. It involves small incisions rather than large cuts so there is less post-operative wound pain, bleeding, and risk of infection. Patients spend less time in hospital and are able to return to normal activities sooner.

The Trust's laparoscopic team is led by Professor Motson, who has been a consultant at Colchester General Hospital since 1984. In 2001 he became a Professor of Surgery at Anglia Ruskin University in recognition of his national and international reputation in laparoscopic surgery.

Colchester General Hospital has the highest concentration of advanced laparoscopic surgeons in the UK and performs more procedures across more disciplines than any other hospital. For example, it is one of only two UK hospitals to offer totally laparoscopic aortic aneurysm repairs and is a designated centre of excellence for laparoscopic colorectal (bowel) surgery and laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis.

Its team of six advanced laparoscopic surgeons also collaborate with surgeons in other specialties, such as gynaecology and urology, and are involved in research. The first laparoscopic courses were held in Colchester in 1992 and currently a dozen different training courses a year are run for surgeons and theatre staff, sometimes up to 20 times annually. Although the ICENI Centre is a Department of Health and National Cancer Action Team accredited national training centre for laparoscopic colorectal surgery, many of the delegates come to Colchester from overseas.

The Trust is also a partner in the Postgraduate Medical Institute (PMI) at Anglia Ruskin University. The PMI brings together all the PCTs and NHS acute Trusts in Essex, as well as two private hospitals and the Institute of Public Health.