BEIJING -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army has assisted Sierra Leone in building a center for tropical infectious disease prevention and control, a spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense said on June 28.

The center is the first that China's military has built in Africa. The construction of the center will be finished soon and the handover ceremony will be held in early July, said spokesperson Wu Qian.

China will conduct medical cooperation with Sierra Leone based on the center, Wu said.

China will continue to help African countries enhance their disease prevention and control systems and capabilities, and will provide them with more goods of public health security, Wu added.