Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said it was in discussions Monday with Chinese businessmen and a well-known Chinese hospital of traditional medicine about building a full-service, modern hospital near Hong Kong.

The proposed facility would have 500-to-1,000 beds and be designed to help meet the ever-burgeoning demand for quality health care in the land of 1.4 billion people. It may be very helpful to Mass. General's finances as well.

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To be called MGH Hospital China, if built, it would be located at Hengqin New Area of Zhuhai City. The area is about 30 miles from Hong Kong on an island connected to Guangdong province's southern coast by a bridge

A framework agreement was signed last week to develop a China hospital. The agreement was entered into by Mass. General with a Chinese hospital specializing in traditional medicine and a Chinese investment company.

Medical center officials emphasized talks concerning MGH Hospital China continued in preliminary form and final sign-offs would be determined by next summer.

The Chinese investment firm would provide the cash for the endeavor. MGH Hospital China would employ a large number of nurses, doctors, researchers and related employees, according to preliminary plans.

Each party involved in negotiations has something to gain through a new medical center near Hong Kong. China has struggled to upgrade medical facilities to treat its growing population. Investors look to make money through establishment of a new, modern facility.

Mass. General, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, may have the most to gain. It can't expand locally due to government regulations restricting expansion by its parent company, Partners HealthCare. Yet, the corporation is under increasing pressure from insurers to cut medical costs or at least cut the amount of cost increases.

The China market represents an attractive expansion target since it features an expanding middle-class and wealthy market eager for upgrades to its health system, according to Peggy Slasman, who provided a written statement to the Boston Globe.

Slasman said China was a dynamic nation playing an important global role in the life sciences and medicine. Mass. General was taking advantage of the opportunity to explore a relationship with Kanghua Healthcare Investment Ltd. and Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, she said.

Mass. General is New England's largest hospital. It already has relationship with China. Beijing Saint Lucia Consulting refers and brings Chinese patients to the facility. The consulting firm even opened a Boston office in 2013 providing services including translators and drivers to wealthy Chinese visitors seeking treatment for cancer and other maladies.

The hospital will treat 100 Chinese patients this year, up from 10 annually just a few years ago. Treatment required for the type of serious illness suffered by these patients can cost upwards of $200,000 to $300,000 and require 3-to-4 months at the medical center.

The distance between China and Boston also makes it much more difficult to keep track of discharged Chinese patients needing follow-ip care, Mass. General officials said.

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