Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech at the hand over ceremony in Yangon, Myanmar on December 23. 

Yangon (People’s Daily) – A maternity hospital co-funded by China and Myanmar has started operation in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon on Saturday.

The hospital, now entitled China-Myanmar Friendship Hospital, was formerly known as Daw Khin Ki Hospital, which bears the name of mother of incumbent Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi also attended the handover ceremony on Saturday.

The project of refurbishing the hospital, carried out by the China Sinopharm International Corporation and the Myanmar-China Cooperation and Communication Center, was co-funded by Chinese Embassy to Myanmar as well as the China Foundation for Peace and Development.

“It is the first time for the hospital to be rebuilt and decorated at such a large scale since its inception in 1947, and it has been upgraded to a very high level”, said Dr Thin Yu Zaw, director of the hospital.

Myint Htwe, Union Minister of Health and Sports of Myanmar, expressed his gratitude to the Chinese side, who is also offering medical equipment and furniture to the hospital.

“This hospital is somewhat a milestone of the relationship between China and Myanmar,” he told People’s Daily.

“Even in the region when H1N1 outbreaks, China sent a full-plane load of goods including vaccines to help control the virus. No country in the world would send goods by plane directly to the Yangon airport but China”.

A nurse poses for pictures at the handover ceremony of China-Myanmar Friendship Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar on December 23. (Photos: Zhang Zhiwen/People's Daily)

Wang Xuehong, wife of Chinese ambassador to Myanmar, said she hopes the hospital could bring benefits beyond patients in Myanmar.

“I hope this hospital will bring benefits to women and children, and people will remember Daw Khin Kyi, who dedicated herself to the welfare of women and children in Myanmar,” Wang said.

Phyo Min Thein, governor of Yangon Region, described the hospital as “the one equipped with the most advanced facilities in the country”.

Li Bobo, Executive President of Myanmar China Cooperation and Communication Center, believed the people-to-people exchange could serve as the foundation of Paukphaw Friendship.

“The local livelihood projects could benefit grass-root people directly,” he said.