A pioneering new agreement between a New Zealand university and the south China province of Guangdong will lead to innovative health treatments, New Zealand researchers said 2nd Dec., 2015.

The scientific collaboration between the University of Auckland and Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Department is the first of its kind for a New Zealand university in China.

It will focus on advanced research in biomedicine, engineering sciences, and systems to support innovation and commercialization.

The research covered under a memorandum of understanding would include stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine, metabolic disease, immune therapy for cancer, and drug discovery, said Professor Rod Dunbar, director of the university's Maurice Wilkins Centre for molecular science.