China has deployed doctors and nurses around the world for the past 48 years to provide free care, training and other medical assistance in a bid to boost the fast-growing nation's image in and friendship with the developing world.

More than 1,100 Chinese doctors and nurses are currently stationed overseas in 50 China Medical Teams in 48 countries, with 42 in Africa alone, said Wang Liji, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health's International Cooperation Department, which oversees foreign medical deployments.

"These medical teams have been playing an active role in bridging the gap between China and African countries," Wang said. Wang added that overseas medical teams were a "long-standing" tradition and called it the "responsibility of a big country."

China sent its first medical team to Algeria in 1963. Since then, Chinese doctors have treated 260 million patients in 65 developing countries.

Working together with local doctors, the China Medical Teams provide free medical services, help set up medical facilities and help train local medical workers.

Their continuous aid work over the past 48 years has been widely recognized in African countries.

China Medical Teams in Mali, Tanzania, Central African Republic, and East Timor?are among those that have received top honors from recipient countries in the recent years, China's Ministry of Health said.

On July 30, 2009, the Chinese medical team in Mali received a number of prestigious awards in the capital Bamako. Mali's President Amadou Toumani Touré awarded team leader Xiong Zhiming with a Knight Medal and the other 30 members with Lion Medals.

Madame Oumar Ibrahima Touré, head of Mali's Ministry of Health, also highly praised Chinese medical aid in helping Mali improve its public health.

"When a Chinese medical team in Mali was relocating to another city, locals voluntarily saw them off and protested to local authorities for not trying hard enough to keep us," Wang said.

Omar Ramadhan Mapuri, Tanzania's ambassador to China, said Chinese doctors in Africa enjoy great popularity and have benefitted countless local people, especially those in rural areas and those who usually can't afford to go to hospitals.

"The Chinese medical team in Zanzibar has prolonged my late father's life for at least ten years," Mapuri said. He added that local African people respect and love Chinese doctors.

China has also sent medical equipment and established facilities in Africa. In Tanzania, China set up a cutting-edge ophthalmology center and cardiovascular center. An endoscopy center is in the works.

China allocated 300 million yuan (US$46.2 million) from 2007 to 2010 to set up 30 malaria treatment centers in Africa. It has also offered the malaria drug artemisinin.

China Medical Teams in Africa, besides their routine medical work, have served as messengers to build diplomatic bridges between China and the continent.

Wang said that the Ministry of Health will continue to send medical teams to developing countries, and implied the scale of aid will also gradually expand.

The Chinese government sends medical teams overseas based on bilateral governmental agreements. "Chinese medical aid in Africa is fixed in bilateral deals, and it is formal," Wang said.