A shipment of Chinese emergency medical aid arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Monday, as the nation grapples with casualties from ongoing cross-border conflicts with Israel.
The 60-tonne shipment, consisting of 3,601 boxes containing anesthesia machines, tracheal intubation tubes, and surgical gowns, arrived at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport after a flight lasting more than 11 hours.
Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Qian Minjian and Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad attended the handover ceremony.
Qian said that the conflict has brought profound suffering to the Lebanese people, causing large numbers of casualties and displacement of refugees.
"As a friendly partner of Lebanon, China firmly supports Lebanon in safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and dignity, and strongly opposes any indiscriminate attacks against civilians," said Qian, expressing his hope that the emergency medical aid would help Lebanon's strained health-care system.
Abiad, speaking on behalf of the Lebanese government, expressed gratitude for China's timely humanitarian assistance.
"This is not the first time that China has stood with Lebanon. We remember that China provided assistance to Lebanon, especially to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and after the Beirut Port explosion. We sincerely thank and appreciate China's solidarity in difficult times," said Abiad.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces since October 2023 have resulted in more than 2,400 deaths and over 11,000 injuries.
Chinese humanitarian aid arrives in Beirut
China aims to cultivate a first-class industrial workforce with a view to providing strong talent and skill support for the building of a great country, and for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.
Through deepening reforms in the building of its industrial workforce, the country aims to foster approximately 2,000 national-level master artisans, 10,000 provincial-level master artisans and 50,000 city-level master artisans who are highly knowledgeable and have high levels of technical and innovative skills by 2035, according to a set of guidelines issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.
To adapt to the needs of new industrialization, the country will promote modern vocational education, increase efforts to foster talent with comprehensive technical skills, and refine the lifelong vocational skills training system for industrial workers, aiming to cultivate urgently needed talent for the development of new quality productive forces and the promotion of high-quality development, according to the guidelines.
The country will promote continuing education projects for industrial workers by encouraging more colleges and universities to establish classes and advanced training courses for craftspeople, model workers and technical talent.
The world's second-largest economy will also encourage manufacturing enterprises to implement fundamental industrial skills training projects for workers and offer support plans for talent.
Efforts will also be made to attract more young people to join the ranks of industrial workers through strengthened policy support and employment-related services, and through the establishment of match-making platforms for colleges and companies.
The country will also strengthen skills training for migrant workers and help them integrate into cities more effectively by easing policies related to their permanent urban residency registration, helping migrant workers gain equal access to basic urban public services, according to the guidelines.
China aims to cultivate about 62,000 master artisans by 2035
