Taiwan's Taoyuan Aerotropolis is to become the focus of the country's efforts to attract medical tourists and combat the migration of doctors to China when a new international health centre is built there.

According to Shih Chung-liang, director of the DOH's Bureau of Medical Affairs, the health centre will be located in the airport's Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and will be complimented with shopping malls and hotels to attract both international patients and wealthy locals.

"Visa application procedures will also be streamlined for overseas patients," he told Taiwanese media.

Chung-liang said the health centre, the first of three to be built in Taiwan, should be completed by 2013 at the earliest.

The international health center is set to provide services only to non-resident foreigners, Shih said. "But about 20 percent of its profits will go to the reserve fund of the National Health Insurance to help improve the quality of health care in the nation," he was quoted as saying by Taiwan Today.