Fresenius (NYSE:FMS) said today it purchased a 70% equity stake in China’s Kunming Wuhua Health Hospital, a facility specializing in chronic disease management and hemodialysis.

The acquisition was officially completed on March 31, Germany-based Fresenius said, and marked the company’s 1st joint venture hospital in China.

The hospital will continue to provide chronic-disease management while improving services, competency enhancement, quality control and expanding its current hemodialysis service, Fresenius said.  Improvements will include the development of peritoneal dialysis and vascular-surgery capabilities.

Fresenius said it will continue to look for collaborative opportunities in China with both public and private sector partners, according to a press release.

Last month, Fresenius Medical said it won the 1st bellwether trial in a series of product liability lawsuits brought over its GranuFlo and NaturaLyte dialysis drugs, after a Massachusetts jury found that the plaintiff’s estate failed to prove its case.

The trial was the 1st case to go to trial among a group of plaintiffs who declined to enter a $250 million settlement struck a year ago in the multi-district litigation proceeding in federal court in the Bay State.