The three are chief physicians at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Zou Xu and Xie Dongping, and associate chief physician Wu Guangping of the hospital's intensive care unit, who came to Hong Kong under the Greater Bay Area Chinese Medicine Visiting Scholars Program that started in November.

All of them supported Hong Kong during the fifth wave of local Covid-19 infections last spring, with Xie and Wu at the temporary isolation facility at AsiaWorld-Expo.

The trio also worked at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Jordan and Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung to provide clinical training services to five local practitioners and participate in research on Chinese-Western medicine integration.

In the second phase of the program from March, the trio provided 30 local practitioners with advanced clinical training.

They also reviewed the operation of integrated Chinese-Western medicine in stroke treatment, and they plan to help introduce such integrated medicine into the pulmonary medicine service at Haven of Hope Hospital in Tseung Kwan O.

The trio said they found local practitioners professional, though Xie felt they lacked clinical experience in handling inpatients as they mostly served at outpatient clinics.

"Hong Kong has its own advantages, that Chinese medicine practitioners have a comprehensive knowledge and the public health system is world class," Xie said.

The Hospital Authority said the visiting scholars program received positive comments from officials at Guangdong's traditional Chinese medicine bureau and the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, and it is planning to regularize the program.

"We think [the program] is workable," said authority chief manager of Chinese medicine Rowena Wong How-wan. "The program will not only last for a year but we are looking forward to having professionals from different specialties join us."

Chan Wing-kwong, a practitioner who represents the Election Committee in the Legislative Council, said the program could provide locals with valuable knowledge and experience while welcoming the introduction of integrated medicine into pulmonary treatment.