James Moeser, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. [chinadaily.com.cn]

Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Mia Hamm and Larry Brown, all these names are familiar to many in China. But few may realize they all have something in common - they all went to the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the United States.

Now, this university on the other side of the globe is earnestly reaching out to China.

UNC, which boasts well-known public health and medicine schools, and Peking University, one of China's most prestigious universities, are holding a joint conference on health care reform in China in Beijing from December 11-12.

The conference titled "Harmonious Development and Reaching Health for All", will gather government officials, health experts, representatives of international organizations involved in public health and development, and private health-care companies, said UNC Chancellor James Moeser on Monday.

The gathering might be of some help to Chinese policy-makers, according to Moeser who will serve as an honorary chairman of the event.

Issues expected to be covered at the conference include health-care financing, payment systems, organizational change, law and regulation and human resources.

The conference is the latest in a growing series of collaborations between UNC and Chinese partners. Mr. Moeser listed China as one of the three most important countries, along with Britain and India, in the globalization campaign of UNC, the first state university in the US, citing the huge population and booming economy.

Currently, more than 120 UNC faculty are now working on China-related topics, said Chancellor Moeser.

The university's School of Medicine is working with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and the National Center for HIV/Aids Prevention and Control in the world's most populous country.

UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School and China's Tsinghua University are collaborating on Olympics logistics.

In addition, the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center is supervising a research laboratory at the Fudan University Institute of Biomedical Science in Shanghai.

There are also numerous other collaborations between UNC and Chinese institutions. Chancellor Moeser aims to do more. "China is a country that US can not afford to ignore," he says.

He spoke highly of Chinese students, calling them "intelligent, highly-motivated and disciplined." But he advised them to broaden their knowledge base instead of being too focused on a certain field.

The chancellor admitted that his university lagged behind Duke University, just miles away from UNC, in terms of public relations campaign in China. But he is confident that UNC can catch up with its longtime rival and make itself known to a greater number of Chinese.