Sun Zhigang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), met with Mohamed Nazim, Maldives defense minister and health minister. Both sides exchanged ideas about cooperation in the health sector.

Sun said that this September, the NHFPC and the Maldives Health Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in health during President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Maldives. The NHFPC is willing to push forward cooperation with the Maldives Health Ministry under the framework of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in health.

Nazim expressed gratitude for the Chinese navy’s hospital ship visiting Maldives in 2013, free diagnosis and treatment of local people, and China’s donation of $20,000 and 200,000 yuan worth of medical equipment to the Maldives Health Ministry in October 2014. He hoped that China can provide assistance to Maldives for medical personnel training, specialized healthcare technology and medical equipment assistance. Sun said that the NHFPC is willing to further cooperate with Maldives in the health sector.

People in charge of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, Department of International Cooperation and State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine attended the meeting.