Chinese foreign aid medical teams serve 2.06 million patients in 2025

The 12th Chinese foreign aid medical team to Malawi, organized and dispatched by the health commission of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, worked through China's Spring Festival in this African country.

The team, whose 18 members come from 10 provincial medical institutions, such as the First Affiliated Hospital (FAH) of Xi'an Jiaotong University and Northwest Women's and Children's Hospital (NWWCH), is skilled at internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, medical imaging technology and anesthesiology. After crossing the ocean, the team performed medical miracles under arduous circumstances, thereby imbuing the phrase "Chinese Doctors" with hope of life.

Upholding medical spirit while bringing advanced technology

To celebrate Chinese New Year, the medical team pasted Spring Festival couplets and hang lanterns in their dormitory at Mzuzu Central Hospital. They also made jiaozi, a traditional Chinese food for the New Year, with local tapioca and flour.

The sentiment of yearning emerged when Zhao Pengliang, an attending physician in NWWCH's general surgery department, saw on his mobile phone his baby son babbling in a family member's arms.

Zhao left for Africa on July 14, 2025, when his son was only one month old. In the more than 200 days since then, he has received 1,090 patients and devised treatment plans for them. He has completed 610 surgeries, including Malawi's first surgery for a massive sacrococcygeal teratoma (a tumor growing from a baby's tailbone before birth) on a newborn and the country's first surgery for cloacal exstrophy (a condition that occurs during fetal development that affects the baby's urinary, digestive and reproductive systems) on a premature infant with low weight.

In an operating room at Mzuzu Central Hospital, members of the Chinese foreign aid medical team operate on the massive sacrococcygeal teratoma of a premature newborn. After more than 5 hours, Zhao completed the surgery with the help of doctors of the neonatology and anesthesiology departments.

The 18 members kept working in Malawi during this Spring Festival and they had worked there for more than 200 days.

"Although we can't go home this Spring Festival, we can protect lives here," said Liu Shangwu, head of the 12th Chinese foreign aid medical team to Malawi. "When we cure one ill African infant after another using Chinese techniques and improve local treatment procedures with Chinese plans, we enhance the image of Chinese doctors. This sense of achievement is the best festival atmosphere."

Working in Mzuzu Central Hospital and Kamuzu Central Hospital, the Chinese foreign aid medical team addressed challenges brought by the prevalent malaria and AIDS and scarce medical equipment. They not only provided high-level diagnosis and treatment, but also designed treatment plans for difficult cases via transnational remote consultation while conducting various forms of training, including more than 200 clinical instructions and 25 specialized training sessions. They also cultivated 12 local experienced doctors.

"The achievements we made hand in hand have improved the medical condition of Malawi's people and promoted the building of a community with a shared future for humanity," said Blessed Kondowe, spokesperson for Mzuzu Central Hospital.

As of February 2026, the medical team has attended to 19,146 patients, performed more than 750 surgeries, treated more than 350 critically ill patients and trained over 210 local medical personnel.

Fulfilling duties despite being far from home

During Spring Festival, when people should be with their families, the 31st Chinese foreign aid medical team in Guinea remained at their positions in this West African country. The team consists of 24 members from Beijing Municipal Health Commission, the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and the Beijing Friendship Hospital, an affiliated institution of Capital Medical University. These members span 18 departments including cardiology and orthopedics. They performed surgeries and trained local medical personnel, fulfilling their mission as doctors.

The medical team also engaged in pasting spring couplets and making dumplings in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. Although they were far from home, they decorated the rooms with festival ornaments, creating the atmosphere of Chinese New Year.

Built by the Chinese government, the Sino-Guinean Friendship Hospital is the largest such institution in Conakry. The city's medical and hygiene conditions are underdeveloped, and there are prevailing infectious diseases like malaria and typhoid fever. The power supply is unreliable and blackouts are frequent.

Not long ago, a 63-year-old patient who experienced unexpected chest pain was sent to the Sino-Guinean Friendship Hospital. The doctor identified the condition as an acute myocardial infarction and immediately arranged surgery for him through fast-track process. Doctors from the Chinese medical team started the surgery immediately. However, the power supply suddenly failed during the operation.

"The abrupt power outage halted our surgery," said Wang Gang, a member of the 31st Chinese foreign aid medical team to Guinea, "But we successfully cleared the patient's blocked blood vessel after the power supply recovered. We all felt proud and comforted when we saw the patient discharged from the hospital."

"Chinese doctors saved my life," said the patient. "At that time, my chest was very painful. They saved me. I am truly grateful to them."

To prioritize the patients' life and health is the medical team's mission. The medical team brought advanced medical techniques and technologies here. Last May, a 41-year-old patient came to the hospital for walking difficulties owing to pain in the left hip. The team members simulated his bone structure in a three-dimensional model and performed a total hip arthroplasty based on the model. After only a week, the patient was able to walk.

"We can simulate the surgical effect very well thanks to artificial intelligence," said Diao Naicheng, a member of the 31st Chinese foreign aid medical team to Guinea. "We can see the prosthesis volume, type and location, and then we feel ready for the surgery."

Besides working in the hospital, the team members also volunteered in the distant regions that have scarce medical resources. At the Simandou mine, they gave health inspections and popularized hygiene knowledge for thousands of Chinese and Guinean employees. They went to the orphanage to give health checks to more than 70 children and donated school supplies like bags and notebooks to them.

"We went to the distant areas and brought residents health knowledge and infectious disease prevention and control methods," said Wang Bin, head of the 31st Chinese foreign aid medical team to Guinea.

"The Guinean medical staff and Chinese experts collaborated effectively and supported each other in the Sino-Guinean Friendship Hospital," said Mohamed Diane, director general of the Sino-Guinean Friendship Hospital. "The close cooperation ensured high-quality diagnosis and treatment for the patients."

Serving 2.06 million patients

More than 1,000 members of Chinese foreign aid medical teams remained on the job during this Spring Festival. In 2025, the Chinese government mobilized 1,061 personnel for foreign assistance, serving 2.06 million patients.

Embodying the spirit of "fearlessness in the face of hardship, willingness to dedicate, saving lives and passing on boundless love", the medical team members have written a glorious chapter in the history of China-aided medical care.

The medical teams promoted the minimally-invasive-surgery technology in 20 countries in 2025. The Chinese foreign aid medical team to Equatorial Guinea completed the country's first laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair, and the team to Djibouti conducted the country's first minimally invasive urological surgery.

The Chinese foreign aid medical team to Malawi engaged in the country's first surgery on a premature infant with rare conditions. A total of 396 team members were rewarded with honors by those countries. Zhang Junqiao, head of the 27th Chinese foreign aid medical team to Tanzania, sacrificed his life to save drowning people and was recognized as a martyr.

Since 1963, the Chinese government has sent 31,000 medical workers to 77 countries and regions, treating 300 million patients. It has launched 49 hospital partnership projects in 43 countries and regions and established 29 major clinical specialty cooperation centers, bringing hundreds of new technologies to those aided countries.