Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" completes mission in Gabon

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark", which is on the Mission Harmony-2024, on Wednesday completed its week-long mission in Gabon, the eighth stop of its journey.

The "Peace Ark" arrived in the central African country on Sept 26 and started to provide free medical service for the Gabonese people since then.

Gabonese Minister of the Interior Hermann Immongault and the Chinese Ambassador to Gabon Zhou Ping were the first to board the hospital ship.

The mission has aroused the enthusiasm of the Gabonese people.

"As you know, when you see a sick person, for a mother, you can imagine the suffering. So I'm happy coming here and seeing a highly qualified doctor. You know that China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and in terms of medicine, they are very advanced. So we are delighted to meet the doctor. The doctor saw my child and gave a diagnosis. As for the rest, we're very happy," said Moussounda Erica, a mother of a young patient.

The medical mission of the "Peace Ark" highlighted the high demand among the Gabonese people for medical care in the field of general medicine, particularly in ophthalmology, maxillofacial surgery and joint pain, which are more common among many elderly people.

I've felt the effectiveness of Chinese medicine. It doesn't just start today. I've seen their products and they've saved a lot of people. Compared to Western medicine, it's closer to African medicine," said Mimioghe Edouard, a Gabonese patient.

Both Chinese volunteers living in Gabon and Gabonese volunteers who speak French and Mandarin supported the nursing staff by helping to detect pathologies and provide appropriate care.

"This is a major mission that sends out a very strong signal. As here in Gabon, we have a lot of problems with medical cover and doctors, too. I think it's a very commendable action, which we appreciate, and I hope that in the future they will always come to help us," said Ovono Nkomo, a Gabonese doctor.

The "Peace Ark" set sail from a military port in Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province in mid of June for the Mission Harmony-2024.

During the mission, the ship will visit 13 countries and provide medical service to local people. It will also make port calls to France and Greece.

This is the 10th Mission Harmony for the "Peace Ark" since its commissioning in 2008.

There are over 100 personnel on board the maritime hospital, featuring 17 clinical departments and 5 auxiliary diagnostic departments.

The "Peace Ark" is the first domestically designed and constructed standard ocean-going hospital ship in China.

This is the second time the hospital ship has docked at the port of Owendo, south of Gabon's capital city Libreville. After Gabon, it will sail for the western African country of Cameroon.

Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" completes mission in Gabon

As the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding, the African continent is confident in its steady and continued development thanks to its robust partnership with China.

The 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC holds great significance for Africa, as the two sides have been closely bonded together on their path to modernization outlined at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing early in September.

Wu Peng, the Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, addressed a reception held by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa on Sept 26 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

"President Xi Jinping announced a six-point proposal on China-Africa joint pursuit of modernization and 10 partnership actions for the next three years. The Chinese government will provide financial support on this front as well, which will inject the new and the strong impetus into deepening China-Africa cooperation and leading the modernization of the Global South," said Wu.

China, the world's second largest economy, has played a major role in Africa's growth. Significant collaboration in areas such as infrastructure, technology and energy has accelerated Africa's development. And for South Africa, more cooperation between the African country and China is on the horizon.

"We are ready to encourage more Chinese companies to invest and start business in South Africa, especially to strengthen cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, green energy, and AI," said Wu.

"The improving relationship, especially coming out of this recent FOCAC, signals a big shift, a big shift in South-to-South relations, a big shift in terms of prospective investments and development for the Global South. So the Global South is, indeed, rising and it's aided in part by this strong relationship," said Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher of the Institute for Global Dialogue.

China has also pledged a further 50 billion U.S. dollars in financial aid for Africa as the continent aspires to realize a free trade area.

"You need to produce in order to benefit from the free trade area. You need investment in manufacturing. You need investment in logistics to move the goods. China has significant expertise in all of these areas, whether it be investment, whether it be project management, industrialization, and so on. So there's a lot to potentially benefit from a relationship with China in this particular regard," said Kubayi.

New, strong vigor in China-Africa cooperation boosts development of Global South