In April 1963, China dispatched its first medical team to aid Algeria in its post-independence reconstruction, marking the beginning of China’s medical aid programme to the developing countries, especially African countries. In the past 60 years, numerous Chinese medical professionals have gone deep into the communities in various African countries to provide medical care to local residents. Some of them even sacrificed their lives for the glorious mission. What they have done should be remembered. The following selection of photos highlights just a few moments in the long history of China-Africa medical aid programme, which is an important part of China-Africa friendship. 

Chinese doctors operate on a child in Sierra Leone in the 1970s

Zhou Naizhong, a member of the 21st Chinese medical team to Djibouti, treats a child in Djibouti City, Djibouti, on 28 February

A Chinese oculist examines a patient at a hospital in Libreville, capital of Gabon, on 9 November 2007

Members of Chinese peacekeeping medical team carry an injured person at an airport in Bukavu, capital city of Sud-Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 3 July 2010

Peng Jikui (left), head of the 22nd Chinese medical team to Rwanda, and Gahima John, director general of Kibungo Referral Hospital, attend a ceremony for the Chinese medical team’s donation of medical supplies to the hospital in Ngoma District, Eastern Province, Rwanda, on 20 January 2022

A member of the 19th Chinese medical team to Zimbabwe teaches employees of a Chinese company and local people how to practice traditional Chinese exercises in Hwange, Zimbabwe, on 26 August 2022

A member of the 14th Chinese medical team to Namibia shares knowledge about traditional Chinese medicine with students in a middle school in Windhoek, Namibia, on 3 November 2021