Chinese officials handed over a hospital on Tuesday in Kinshasa to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the eastern suburbs of the capital city Kinshasa.

Congolese Vice President Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, Foreign Minister Raymond Ramazani Baya and Zhu Liying, the Chinese interim Charge d'Affaires to the DRC, attended the handover ceremony at the completion of the project, which is part of China's aid to the African nation.

In his address, Yerodia said the hospital was the largest ever built in his country, and came completely set up with modern equipment and instruments. He praised China for its generosity through friendship rather than for any commercial interest.

Ramazani said the completion of the hospital marked a brilliant page of South-South cooperation. He expressed his appreciation of China's constant support for his country since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972.

Zhu hailed the handover as a new page in Sino-DRC cooperation and friendship. China was committed to supporting the DRC in the challenges it faced in its post-war reconstruction, said the Chinese diplomat.

The DRC is scheduled to hold its first elections in 45 years this year as the culmination of peace negotiations and agreements which ended the 1998-2002 war and its often violent aftermath. The conflict involved six nations and left nearly 4 million people dead.

Covering an area of almost 8,000 square meters, the 150-bed modern hospital built by Chinese workers is the first in a district which holds one-third of Kinshasa's 6 million population. The hospital is designed to handle 400 patients at its full capacity.

Source: Xinhua