The Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute (GCI) is a medical research institution integrating clinical treatment, scientific research, and clinical education, as well as a famous specialized hospital for cardiovascular diseases. Since its establishment in 1958, through the unremitting efforts of generations, GCI has become the largest and top clinical research center for cardiovascular diseases in southern China. Both Department of Cardiology and Department of Cardiac Surgery of the GCI were evaluated as national key disciplines of clinical medicine. Department of Cardiology, Department of Cardiac Surgery, and Department of Pediatric Cardiology were evaluated as key disciplines of clinical medicine of Guangdong Province. Many specialist areas of the GCI have reached national level, including:

1.Training Base for Cardiovascular Interventional Techniques (Coronary Heart Disease, Arrhythmia and Congenital Heart Disease) of the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, and the National Quality Control Center for Coronary Heart Disease, Arrhythmia and Congenital Heart Disease.

2.National Clinical Pharmacology Base.

3.National training base for extracorporeal circulation techniques of the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China.

4.National training base for minimally invasive cardiac surgery techniques.

5.The first batch of national cardiovascular specialist nursing and technical training demonstration bases.

6.The first batch of "Heart Failure Specialized Center" certificated by Heart Failure Specialized Medical Alliance of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases.

7.The South China Center of the Hypertension Specialized Medical Consortium of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases.

8.The training base for cardiac transplantation physicians of the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China.

The GCI is redesignated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Cardiovascular Diseases in 2019, and is currently the only WHO collarorating center for cardiovascular diseases in China and the west pacific region. In the same year, GCI became a national regional medical center for cardiovascular disease, which has been jointly established by the National Health Commission and Guangdong Province. In 2016, the Health Commission of Guangdong Province established the Guangdong Cardiovascular Disease Center under the auspices of the GCI.

In the 2020 China's Hospital rankings by the Hospital Management Institute of Fudan University, the Department of Cardiac Surgery was ranked 3rd and the Department of Cardiology was ranked 6th in China. In terms of specialty reputation, the Department of Cardiac Surgery was ranked 4th and the Department of Cardiology was ranked 5th in China.

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery was ranked in the top 3 in China in the 2021 China’s Hospital Internet Impact rankings.

Since the Economic Reform and Opening-up, the GCI has never ceased to create medical technologies that are at the forefront of China and the world. We were the first to perform heart transplants in Guangdong in 1998; We performed the first Combined Heart-Lung Transplantation in Guangdong in 2006; In 2015, we performed the fetal heart surgery with maintained fetal circulation at the time of delivery, which was the 1st case in China and the 2nd one in Asia; In 2016, we performed the first intrauterine intervention for fetal congenital heart disease in China, advancing the treatment for congenital heart disease from infancy to the fetal stage, creating a new era in the history of the field; In 2017 we performed the world's first 3D thoracoscopic-assisted intervention for perivalvular leakage of mitral valve.; In 2018, we completed the world's first MR (mixed reality)-assisted surgery for complex congenital heart disease, and the world's first "one-stop" intervention for three complex congenital heart malformations in the same year; In 2019, we completed the first minimally invasive double valve replacement and the first minimally invasive surgical treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy fully under thoracoscope in China; In 2021, we completed the first "valve-in-valve" replacement with a combination of thoracoscope and interventional cardiology; the number of heart transplants ranked 3rd in China and top 10 in the world for many years, with world-leading quantity and quality.