Chinese Government provides RMB 150 million grant for establishment of 100-bed Ebola Treatment center (Linked to Record ID #s #41552 and #41553)

Project narrative

On October 24, 2014, President Xi Jinping announced a fourth round of Ebola-related assistance worth RMB 500 million (approximately USD 82 million) for Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea on behalf of the Chinese Government. A highlight of this fourth batch of assistance would be the construction of a 100-bed treatment center in Liberia, where the epidemic was most serious. According to the Chinese Ministry of Defense, the treatment center was worth RMB 120 million and the donated medicines and medical materials were worth RMB 30 million for a total project amount of RMB 150 (see Staff Comments). The center was to be managed and operated by an elite squad of the People's Liberation Army of China who had experience fighting SARS. The Chinese Government had selected and trained 480 medical staff from the PLA, who were to go to Liberia in three batches, each consisting 160 people, to treat local Ebola patients and build/manage the ETU (see linked Record ID#41552). The deputy head of the Chinese delegation, Director-General of Health Department, General Logistics Department of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Ren Guoquan, said the opening of the Chinese ETU was the first international humanitarian relief project that was constructed, and was to be operated and managed by the Chinese PLA. On November 6, 2014, China announced that all the construction material and construction workers for the project were in place, and the project was to be completed in 30 days (China to build Ebola hospital in Liberia). On November 15, 2014, the first health unit of the PLA dispatched to Liberia, and on 25 November 2014, they completed the construction of the 100-bed Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Sports Complex in Paynesville City outside Monrovia (see linked Record ID#41553). The Chinese ETU had 20 rooms with accessories that consisted of more than 920,000 items, including over 1,500 kinds of medical instruments and materials. Since its completion, the hospital had received a total of 177 patients, including 10 confirmed cases of Ebola and cured 6 of the confirmed cases. The medical team also sent anti-epidemic vehicles to the community and schools for spraying disinfection operations, and together with the Chinese Government, the public health expert group trained nearly 6,000 medical staff and community practitioners. As the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared Liberia free from the Ebola virus disease, the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) decommissioned the ETU and turned over the facility to the Liberian Government on May 12, 2015. By the end of 2014, China had donated at least RMB 700 million to the countries affected by the virus. Other Ebola-related assistance provided by the Chinese Government in 2014 is captured in Umbrella Record ID#60642.