Nurse recruitment agreement with China

Letter of Intent between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Health of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

On the 23 March 2006 the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Chinese Embassy, held a seminar on Human Resources for Health and China where the Letter of Intent between the Chinese and UK Governments was formally launched.

The list of names of Chinese recruitment agencies and the agreed protocol dealing with China-UK cooperation in recruiting health professionals has been provided by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of China. The role of these agencies is to facilitate the recruitment of nursing staff to the UK.

Only UK agencies who appear on the Code of Practice list will be allowed to participate in recruiting under the China-UK agreement. UK employers and agencies recruiting health professionals should only recruit through the Chinese recruitment agencies listed by MOFCOM. Under no circumstances should any direct recruitment from China take place.

Recruitment of other Healthcare professionals from China

Although the Chinese Government has agreed that recruitment of healthcare workers can take place, (but not from rural areas), both NHS organisations and the recruitment agencies should be aware that there can be no direct recruitment from China. Approval for any proposed recruitment that falls outside of remit of the Letter of Intent would need to be authorised by the Chinese Government. In these circumstances, any UK employer or recruitment agency would need to contact the Chinese Embassy to gain the appropriate information and permission to proceed with the recruitment.