Colorectal surgery fellow Anthony Bismar from McGill University in Canada came to the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU), for a transpacific training journey built around a simple idea: "there are no borders at the operating table."

As a National Clinical Key Specialty, SAHZU's Department of Colorectal Surgery performs around 4,900 surgeries annually. Advanced surgical approaches, including laparoscopic ileocecal-sparing right hemicolectomy (LISH) and natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES), both pioneered by Professor Ding Kefeng's team, together with a standardized care system and efficient clinical workflow, have helped Anthony make substantial technical gains.

Through the International Colorectal Surgery Training Academy of China (ICSTAC), experts from China, Spain and Canada are engaged in two-way exchanges and collaborative research. From "bringing in" to "going global," Chinese surgical expertise is building bridges across borders and contributing Chinese solutions to the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal disease worldwide.