Chinese Government grants RMB 400 million for Levy Mwanawasa Hospital Expansion Project (Linked to Record ID#32627)

Project narrative

In 2016, at the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, the Chinese Government agreed to finance the Levy Mwanawasa Hospital Expansion Project (Chinese project name: 赞比亚利维·姆瓦纳瓦萨综合医院扩建). Then, during State Councilor Wang Yong's visit to Zambia in June 2017, government officials signed Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) granting 200 million RMB for this project. The Chinese govenment reportedly contributed a total of 400 million RMB to the Levy Mwanawasa Hospital Expansion Project so it is unclear when they provided the remaining 200 million RMB. The purpose of this project was to increase the number of beds at Levy Mwanawasa Hospital (previously called Lusaka General Hospital the China-Zambia Friendship Hospital) from 150 to 850 and equip the hospital with modern technology. The total construction area was approximately 50,000 square meters, and the project included the construction of a including out-patient department, emergency department, medical technology service, inpatient department, administrative and scientific research area and logistics service area. China IPPR International Engineering Co., Ltd. — a subsidiary of CAMCE — was the contractor responsible for project design. Shanxi Construction Engineering Group was the contractor responsible for project implementation. Construction began on May 12, 2017. Then, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 6, 2017. The originally anticipated project completion date was November 12, 2020 but the project was not handed over to Zambia’s Ministry of Health until March 25, 2020. The Chinese Government also provided a grant in 2009 for construction work at Levy Mwanawasa Hospital (when it was still called Lusaka General Hospital), which is captured in Record ID#32627.