Fifty Chinese health officials will come to Vanderbilt next summer to learn about Tennessee’s health care system.

On a recent trade mission to China, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a signed a letter of intent to bring the officials to Tennessee for three summers starting in 2008.

“The program will commence for an initial three summers, and then the partnership will be re-evaluated,” Bredesen said.

The decision came after spending the first day of his two-week trip to China meeting with health officials about some of the country’s severe health care problems.

“There are enormous health challenges in China. We are seen as (experts) in some of the areas that interest them, and we learned about their challenges and the problems they were trying to solve,” Bredesen said in his dispatches from China.

The collaboration will also benefit Tennessee, Bredesen said.

“This (partnership) is being done with a genuine desire to build lasting bridges, but I can't imagine that our Tennessee health care companies won't find real opportunities as a result,” Bredesen said.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Ken Holroyd agreed.

“This is excellent opportunity for Vanderbilt and the state of Tennessee to learn about the problems China is facing, with rural health care being of critical importance,” he said.

“Tennessee is the third largest exporter of goods to China in the United States, and the partnership will do nothing but bolster our relationship,” Holroyd said.

This group will spend time at Vanderbilt learning about health care management before splitting into two groups based on specific areas of interest.

One group will spend three weeks at East Tennessee State University while the other will travel to the University of Memphis.

In response to growing criticism from some Tennessee lawmakers for ignoring China’s controversial economic and human rights policies, Bredesen said he is “better mannered than to use his time in China to criticize the country.”

“I recognize that the Chinese people don't enjoy the same freedoms as Americans; still, China is bound to be a major factor in international relations for the foreseeable future,” he said.

—The Associated Press contributed to this article.