An exhibitor demonstrates a magnetically controlled capsule gastroscopy system during an "Internet plus healthcare" exhibition of the ongoing fourth China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 6, 2019. Held as part of the fourth China-Arab States Expo, the event showcases the latest technological developments by Chinese and international exhibitors in the smart healthcare industry. Photo: Xinhua

A China-Benin telemedicine cooperation center has been jointly launched by a Chinese hospital and a Beninese hospital, with an aim to provide China's online medical services to medical institutions in the West African country.

At the center's unveiling ceremony, Chinese doctors at the First People's Hospital of Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, conducted an electrocardiogram and provided online diagnosis for a Beninese patient at the central hospital of Lokossa.

The center, supported by internet-powered telemedicine technology, will offer online imaging, surgery guidance and patient management services to medical institutions in Benin.

Ma Xiaofei, head of the Yinchuan municipal health commission, said at the ceremony that the Benin subsidiary of Huawei had helped improve the internet connections in Beninese medical institutions to ensure the proper operation of the telemedicine center.

The center is the latest example of China's broader push to cooperate with the countries and regions along the routes of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the field of "internet plus healthcare."

Since last year, the Chinese medical mission to Benin has conducted a number of telemedicine practices in the country. In March this year, doctors from the First People's Hospital of Yinchuan provided online guidance for a surgery on a Beninese patient with a thyroid tumor.

"The China-Benin telemedicine cooperation center is only the first step. We hope to cooperate with more countries along the routes of BRI to help provide better healthcare," Ma said.

At an international conference on "internet plus healthcare" held in Yinchuan on Friday, representatives from China and various Arab countries reached a consensus that the two sides should deepen cooperation in the use of internet technologies to improve medical services.

The conference is part of the ongoing 4th China-Arab States Expo, which was held last week.

"The health of people around the world is still facing serious threats and challenges," Mao Qun'an, head of the planning and informatization department of China's National Health Commission, said at the event, adding that China is willing to work with Arab states to promote pragmatic cooperation in "internet plus healthcare" for the benefit of people from both sides.

Thus far, China has signed healthcare cooperation documents with 13 Arab League countries and has launched a spate of cooperative projects in areas of disease prevention and control, public medical system construction, traditional medicine and talent training, according to Mao.

Mahmoud Hassan Elamin, director of the Representative Office of the Arab League in Beijing, said at the conference that "internet plus healthcare" is the newest area of China-Arab cooperation.

He said that online medical services and artificial intelligence can help people from less-developed regions in Arab countries who still have to travel far to big cities for better medical treatment.

China issued a guideline in April last year to enhance the role of the internet in medical care, calling for the use of internet technologies to improve the quality of public health services. Ningxia is building the country's first "internet plus healthcare" demonstration zone, including a big data center and a healthcare industrial park.