Xiplomacy: Building China-Africa community of health for all with dedication and action

BEIJING - With the first rays of sunlight shining into the clinic rooms, a group of doctors from East China's Zhejiang province were about to start work at the Friendship Hospital in the Central African Republic's capital of Bangui.

As some 90 patients were waiting their turn in the hallways, loud noise of electricity generators resounded through the hospital. The hospital is struggling with fragile conditions. The walls are peeling. In rainy seasons, rains leaked through the roofs. And water and power outages are common for local people.

Those poor medical infrastructures have left thousands of people in the country vulnerable to diseases and with little access to health services.

Despite the harsh conditions, some 300 Chinese doctors and nurses have come to the African country since 1978 to help local people. Since its first medical aid team set off for Algeria in 1963, China has sent about 30,000 personnel to 76 countries and regions across five continents, providing 290 million diagnoses and treatments for local people.

Chinese medical teams are currently working at 115 medical centers in 56 countries around the world, most of which are in Africa. African people hail the Chinese medical workers as health messengers in white, models of South-South cooperation and most welcome guests.