Chinese hospital ship 'Peace Ark' concludes visit in Gabon

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark" completed its week-long mission in Gabon and left for Cameroon on Thursday.

At 10:00 local time, the Peace Ark left the Owendo Port in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, where Gabonese officials, local residents, staff of Chinese institutions, and overseas Chinese held a seeing-off ceremony and waved goodbye to the soldiers on board.

During the seven days in Gabon, the Peace Ark used its main platform to provide medical services to incoming patients. In addition, it also dispatched expert teams and medical teams to local hospitals to offer joint medical treatment to local residents.

The medical professionals on the ship provided medical treatment to over 6,900 people, conducted auxiliary examinations for more than 3,300 people, and successfully performed 171 surgeries.

The hospital ship also performed the first ship-based robotic operation on a 71-year-old male patient in Gabon after having a confirmed diagnosis and getting the patient's consent.

When offering joint medical treatment, doctors from China and Gabon engaged in in-depth discussions on surgical skills. Gabonese doctors also observed a gallbladder removal surgery on the Peace Ark.

"The operation went smoothly. Gabonese doctors observed the whole process of our surgery. We exchanged experiences with them about promoting minimally invasive surgery in Gabon. The advanced medical facilities on the hospital ship and the professional skills of Chinese doctors are recognized by Gabonese doctors," said Doctor Pang Tao with the Mission Harmony-2024.

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

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

Chinese hospital ship 'Peace Ark' concludes visit in Gabon

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing on Tuesday, with both sides pledging to promote the China-Vietnam community with a shared future.

Noting that China and Vietnam are comrades in the socialist cause and good partners on the path of reform, Han said General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam have made strategic plans for advancing the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, providing clear direction for the development of bilateral relations.

Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Han said the two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, maintain strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, consolidate the foundation of public opinion, strengthen multilateral coordination and promote the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, bringing more benefits to the two peoples.

Bui Thanh Son said that developing long-term friendly relations with China is the consistent proposition, objective requirement, strategic choice and top priority of Vietnam's diplomacy.

Vietnam firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation with China, and jointly promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future with strategic significance, he added.

Chinese, Vietnamese officials pledge to promote China-Vietnam community with shared future