Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (front) attends a press conference in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, Aug. 9, 2015. (Xinhua/Zhang Baoping)
BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi started a visit Saturday to the three African countries worst hit by Ebola -- Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Wang is the first foreign minister of a world major power to visit the West African region after the outbreak of deadly Ebola in 2014.
As Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Chinese government took immediate actions in providing emergency relief and assistance, Wang stressed during his stay in Sierra Leone.
Actually, it is the largest-ever medical aid program so far implemented by China, and the country always stands ready to lend a helping hand to the Ebola-plagued countries in their fight against the deadly diseases.
Chinese medical experts help workers from Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital learn how to protect themselves against Ebola disease in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Sept. 22, 2014.(Xinhua/Huang Xianbin)
Quickly after the outbreak of the fatal epidemic, China was the first country to send health workers to the affected countries in West Africa, and one of the first countries making international medical donations.
Here are key dates in China's anti-Ebola aid in Africa since the breakout in 2014:
In May, China sent the first batch of relief goods, mostly for disease prevention, control and treatment, to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, valued at one million yuan (161, 000 U.S. dollars) for each country.
On Aug. 7, the Ministry of Commerce announced China would provide the second batch of relief goods worth 30 million yuan (4. 9 million dollars), including personal protective equipment, patient monitors, sprays and medicines, to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the hardest-hit countries by the Ebola epidemic.
Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Zhao Yanbo (2nd R, front), Deputy Minster of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone Ebun Strasser-King (1st R, front) and Sierra Leone's Deputy Minister of Health Abu Bakar Fofanah (2nd L) attend a transferring ceremony of emergency humanitarian supplies provided by China at the airport in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, Aug. 11, 2014. A Chinese plane carrying emergency humanitarian supplies for Sierra Leone arrived in the country's capital Freetown on Monday afternoon, as part of the effort to help the country contain the spread of Ebola. (Xinhua)
On Aug. 9, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said China would send three disease control expert teams to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to provide technical assistance to local health authorities in prevention and control of the Ebola virus, the first time that China offers assistance to foreign countries in response to a public health emergency. The teams have been working to a full gear ever since.
Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Zhang Yue (R front) introduces the emergency humanitarian supplies to Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (L front) during a handover ceremony in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 12, 2014.(Xinhua/Gao Bin)
On Sept. 12, the Ministry of Commerce announced another 200 million yuan (32.54 million dollars) package of humanitarian aid to African countries and international organizations to help control the disease.
On Sept. 16, Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Zhao Yanbo said the Chinese government had dispatched another medical team of 59 experts and a mobile laboratory to the African country.
On Sept. 18, President Xi announced a new aid package of 200 million yuan for Liberia, Sierra Leon and Guinea.
Workers offload materials and equipment for the mobile laboratory at Lungi International Airport in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, Sept. 17, 2014. (Xinhua)
On Sept. 25, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on the sidelines of the annual UN General Debate that the Chinese people will always stand beside the African people in the fight against Ebola.
On Sept. 29, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Sun Baohong said China had provided Ghana with 5 million yuan (833,000 dollars) worth of equipment and medical supplies.
On Sept. 30, Chinese Ambassador to Togo Liu Yuxi and Togo's Prime Minister Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu singed an agreement on China's assistance of about 840,000 dollars.
The Sierra Leone-China Friendship Biological Safety Laboratory, which was funded by China, was formally put into operation in Sierro Leone on March 10, 2015. (Xinhua/Sun Dingsheng)
On Oct. 24, President Xi said at a meeting with visiting Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete that China would provide 500 million yuan (about 82 million dollars) in aid to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and international organizations. On Oct. 24, President Xi said at a meeting with visiting Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete that China would provide 500 million yuan (about 82 million dollars) in aid to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and international organizations.
On Nov. 25, the construction of a 100-bed Ebola treatment center in Liberia funded by the Chinese government was completed. The center is the first of its kind to be built and managed by a foreign country in the disease-affected areas.
This photo taken on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the Ebola treatment center built by China in Monrovia. China opened a 100-bed Ebola treatment center in Liberia on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Jiang Heng)
In combating Ebola, China has provided four batches of assistance to 13 countries in and around the affected areas with a total amount of over 120 million U.S. dollars.
So far, China has sent over 1,000 medical staffers to the affected countries, treated more than 900 patients, and trained some 13,000 medical workers for Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and their neighboring countries.
Most recently, China has pledged to donate an extra 5 million dollars to the UN Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund to support the recovery process of the affected areas.
