Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan stressed promoting innovative development of foreign aid medical treatment to better serve China’s diplomacy and the reform and opening-up policy.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of China dispatching foreign aid medical teams, and Sun held talks with representatives from China’s foreign aid medical teams on Dec 17 in Beijing.

In the past 55 years, excellence in medical practices and ethics allowed China’s foreign aid medical teams to be highly praised by the receiving countries. They made historic contributions to advancing relationships between China and other developing countries, the vice-premier said.

She said foreign aid medical services in the new era should focus on countries along the Belt and Road, adding that efforts should be made to improve the benefits for medical workers.

The vice-premier urged medical teams to promote good practices and take real action to safeguard lives, and contribute to achieving the United Nations 2030 sustainable development goals and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Since 1963, China has dispatched 26,000 medical staffers to foreign countries, with 280 million patients receiving treatment.