China will help renovate the Kabul Jumhoriat Hospital, the largest state-owned hospital in the capital of Afghanistan.
It will be China's first assistance project in Afghanistan after 23 years of war in the country. A minute of the talks on therenovation project was signed between a Chinese inspection team and the Public Health Ministry of Afghanistan on Monday.
After completion of the project, the hospital will become the most modern hospital in Afghanistan, according to Zhu Zhixian, head of the inspection team which arrived in Kabul on July 2.
During the past two weeks, experts from China United Engineering Corporation, which has undertaken many foreign assistance projects, conducted thorough inspection to the hospital.
Suhaila Seddiq, minister of public health, met with the Chinesedelegation, and she, on behalf of Afghan government, expressed deep appreciation to China.
"The international society has promised a lot of assistance to Afghanistan, but China is the first one to take a real step. The launching of the renovation project will promote the reconstruction in Afghanistan and set a good example for other countries in their assistance to Afghanistan," said Seddiq.
She added that the project is of great significance to the friendship between China and Afghanistan.
Founded in 1975, the Jumhoriat Hospital has been seriously destroyed during the 23 years of war. There has been no repairing to the hospital since it was built. Most of the medicine and medical equipment have been robbed by warlords during the war.
In March, assistance materials worth 30 million yuan (3.6 million U.S. dollars) including medicine and medical facilities provided by China were delivered to Kabul. A Chinese team inspected the Jumhoriat Hospital which received the medical materials at that time.
The team found that the conditions in the hospital were so poorthat the advanced medical equipment can not be installed and put into use, according to Lu Changjin, commercial counselor of Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan.
Therefore, China offered to help rebuild the hospital. The exchange of letters about the renovation of the hospital were signed when Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan visited Afghanistan in May.
According to Zhu Zhixian, the reconstruction area of the hospital will reach 6,000 to 7,000 square meters. After the hospital is rebuilt, all the modern medical equipment provided by China will be put into use.
The hospital will have medical examination facilities such as CT-scan, X-ray, electrocardiogram and blood test instruments. And the cleanness condition in the hospital will meet the requirement of large operations.
All the rooms of the hospital will be equipped with air-conditioners. And China will also provide the hospital with large electric generators, advanced fire control system and medical elevator, said Zhu.
After the renovation project, a team of Chinese medical expertswill also be sent to Afghanistan to help train professionals of the medical facilities.