On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with African health ministers at the Ministerial Forum of China-Africa Health Development in Beijing, where he promised to continue and strengthen medical support to African health care workers, hospitals, and companies developing vaccines for diseases.
The forum took an economic framework; as China’s economy has grown and it continues to purchase many materials from African countries, Xi hopes to strengthen both economic ties and medical ties. The Chinese president said China would continue providing medical assistance to the continent, vowing to increase maternal and child health care as well as offering free cataract surgery.
"Human development is at the core of development," Xi said. "We hope this forum will substantially push forward health cooperation between China and Africa."
48 African countries were represented as well as eight international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS and the UN Population Fund.
China has been sending medical assistance to Africa since 1963, and in March 2013, President Xi toured the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and South Africa as part of his first overseas tour as president. He was present at a hospital opening in the Republic of Congo, one of thirty hospitals that China promised to build.
