Cui Li, vice-president of the Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), speaks at the donation ceremony for China-Nepal "Lifeline Express" Center of Cooperation for the Prevention of Blindness in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 7, 2025. [Photo by Hari Maharjan/Xinhua]

A center established under China-Nepal cooperation to prevent blindness was inaugurated in the Nepali capital on Friday.

A set of ophthalmic equipment and instruments were donated to the China-Nepal "Lifeline Express" Center of Cooperation for the Prevention of Blindness housed at the Kathmandu-based Civil Service Hospital built with Chinese aid.

China will provide training for Nepal's ophthalmic medical staff, gradually expand the scope of cooperation to diseases like glaucoma and fundus diseases which seriously affect people's visual health, and continuously deepen exchanges and cooperation in the field of blindness prevention, said Cui Li, vice-president of the Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Guests unveil a plaque of the China-Nepal "Lifeline Express" Center of Cooperation for the Prevention of Blindness in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 7, 2025. [Photo by Hari Maharjan/Xinhua]

The center in Nepal, an SCO dialogue partner, was established in line with China's commitment -- announced at the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in September 2022 -- to provide 2,000 free cataract surgeries to patients in SCO countries over the next three years.

China and Nepal have deepened cooperation within the framework of the Health Silk Road in recent years, with a number of medical infrastructure projects implemented, noted Chen Song, Chinese ambassador to Nepal.

Guests inspect China-donated ophthalmic equipment and instruments at the China-Nepal "Lifeline Express" Center of Cooperation for the Prevention of Blindness in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 7, 2025. [Photo by Hari Maharjan/Xinhua]

Hospitals and laboratories built with Chinese aid have improved the level of primary medical services in Nepal, while Chinese medical teams have conducted tens of thousands of diagnoses and treatments in the country, Chen said at the donation ceremony.

And the two countries have continued to deepen cooperation in traditional medicine and other areas, Chen added.