Remarks by Charge d’Affairs H.E. Xu Kun at the Signing Ceremony of Agreement on China-Liberia Paired Hospital Cooperation Mechanism and Donation Ceremony to JFK Medical Center

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3 March, 2023

Hon. Norwu Howard, Deputy Minister of Health,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

Good morning! It is a great pleasure to attend this ceremony. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Liberia and in my own name, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you!

As you may see in the video, President Xi Jinping announced, on 18th May, 2020 at the Virtual Event of Opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly, that China would establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals to help the continent ramp up its disease preparedness and control capacity. After that, the departments of health and hospitals from both sides have made great efforts to explore new cooperation in area of health. Today, we could finally witness the signing ceremony of agreement on China-Liberia paired hospital cooperation mechanism. This moment is worth celebrating.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

It is commonly known that China and Liberia both belong to developing countries. We face many of the same challenges in a wide range of fields. Not so long ago, Chinese people also suffered from disease, which was resulted from poor public healthcare system and poor basic medical service system. So we feel real empathy for Liberian and what they had been through. China has always cared about the health and safety of the Liberian people, and has always treated the difficulties faced by the Liberian people as our own since we are good brother and good partner.  Today, most of the Chinese people have lived a better life. The latest data shows that the average life expectancy of Chinese people has risen from 35 years in 1949, the year of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, to 78.2 years in 2021. As the saying goes that “A single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full bloom bring spring to the garden.” We would like to share our experience with Liberian people and provide assistance within our own capacity so that we can help Liberian people to pursue a better life.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

The project we are going to sign today is a part of the Chinese Aid Projects in Liberia. To my understanding, the total budget of “Chinese HeiLongjiang Provincial Hospital and Liberian JFK Medical Center Internal Cardiovascular Medicine Dept. Cooperative Project” is up to one million USD. This project will help JFK hospital to build an independent medical team comprised with 12 hospital beds, 4 cardiologists and 4 professional nurses, and will effectively improve the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment to the cardiovascular diseases as well as the ability to rescue emergency and severe cases. Besides this project, I would like to announce another good news that China will again donate a batch of aid materials to JFK hospital including 2 respirators, 16 oxygen masks, 240 boxes of anti-malarials drugs and 1200 surgical masks. I believe this will help our Liberian brothers to better address the challenges from the disease.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

In last October, the Communist Party of China(CPC) held its 20th National Congress. A blueprint was drawn for advancing national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization. It will provide great opportunity for development of bilateral relation between our two countries. Our cooperation is based on the principal of equality, mutual respect, non interference of internal affairs and win-win cooperation. It is also in line with the Belt and Road initiative and Pro-Poor Agenda for prosperity and development. China will continue to firmly support the development of Liberia’s social and economic development through various means, and is ready to join hands with Liberia to jointly build a shared future.

Thank you all! 

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