Peng Liyuan calls for more support to children orphaned by AIDS

Chinese President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan, who is also the World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, attends the opening ceremony for "Love in the Sunshine"-- the 2016 China-Africa Children Summer Camp, at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, July 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, July 29 -- Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping, said people from all walks of life should do more to support children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Peng, who is also the World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, made the remarks at the opening ceremony for "Love in the Sunshine"-- the 2016 China-Africa Children Summer Camp, at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Peng said children orphaned by AIDS, despite their nationality or race, are the future of the world.

It is the common responsibility of society to love and care for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, so that they can grow up soundly and happily, said Peng.

The event was a part of the follow-up actions of a China-Africa anti-AIDS advocacy campaign launched by Peng and the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS on the sidelines of the Johannesburg Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in South Africa last year.

The summer camp, sponsored by the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control, has been held six times since 2010.

Fifty-seven children orphaned by AIDS from China, South Africa, Ghana and Zimbabwe attend the summer camp.

Before the opening ceremony, Peng met with South African First Lady Tobeka Madiba Zuma, WHO director-general Margaret Chan and UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe.