China dispatches hospital ship to Cape Town to boost relations
A Chinese naval hospital ship is on its way to Cape Town to provide medical assistance as part of China’s efforts to strengthen its diplomatic relations.
A Chinese naval hospital ship is en route to Cape Town to offer humanitarian medical aid. This comes after China’s Minister, Liu Jinchao, visited South Africa earlier this month as part of efforts to reinforce China-South Africa relations.
Over 300 beds onboard
The hospital ship, known as the Peace Ark, is equipped with advanced medical facilities. It has a total of 16 departments, eight operating rooms, and more than 300 beds. Furthermore, it has an onboard medical rescue helicopter.
It is also equipped with blood banks, examination rooms, and various diagnostic and treatment facilities, as reported by capetownetc.
Since its launch in 2007, the Peace Ark has visited over 45 countries and regions. It has provided medical care services to more than 290 000 people.
Mozambique stop before heading to South Africa
Before the hospital ship headed to Cape Town, the ship visited Mozambique for seven days, departing from Maputo on 16 August 2024.
During the visit to Mozambique, medical personnel aboard the ship provided medical services for more than 7 300 patients. They also performed 74 surgeries. Markedly, on 14 August, they treated 1 658 patients. This was the highest number of treatments in a single day during the mission.
Chinese minister’s attempt to strengthen China-South Africa ties
Cape Town’s stop follows China’s Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Jinchao’s visit to Cape Town earlier this month. He visited South Africa as part of efforts to strengthen China-South Africa and China-Africa relations.
The visits indicate that the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement signed by Presidents Xi Jinping and Cyril Ramaphosa is in the stage of implementation, as reported by IOL. They signed the agreement around a year ago.
The ship’s visit underscores Minister Liu’s emphasis that China and South Africa relations are now in the important stage of building a new era of a China-South Africa community with a shared future. It is a practical example of the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy of cooperation towards developing nations in Africa.
The visit will further develop solidarity and cooperation with African countries as part of China’s foreign policy.