Lt. Gen. Moeung Ponlork (C), director general of the General Department of Logistics and Finance at the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense, presents honorable medals to four Chinese military doctors during an awarding ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jan. 27, 2024. Cambodia on Saturday pinned honorable medals to four Chinese military doctors in recognition of their contributions to improving medical standards of the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital. (Photo by Liao Hongqing/Xinhua)

Cambodia on Saturday pinned honorable medals to four Chinese military doctors in recognition of their contributions to improving medical standards of the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital.

Lt. Gen. Moeung Ponlork, director general of the General Department of Logistics and Finance at the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense, presented the "Knight Class" medals to them at a ceremony held here.

Ponlork expressed his profound gratitude to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) for having provided a great deal of support to the hospital, saying that the assistance has importantly contributed to further deepening the friendship between the two countries and peoples.

"China's medical assistance has not only built capacity for medical practitioners at the hospital, but also improved the well-being of Cambodian military personnel and ordinary patients," he said.

He said that close cooperation in the health sector between Cambodia and China is a fruit of the comprehensive strategic partnership and the iron-clad friendship between the two countries.

The medals were conferred upon the four doctors of the 18th Chinese medical expert team from the PLA's Naval Medical University after they had successfully completed their one-year mission in the Southeast Asian country.

Lt. Gen. Ly Sovann, director of the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, said China's assistance in human capital development and modernizing medical equipment is essential to ensure the hospital's sustainable development.

"Chinese assistance has great value for our hospital, military personnel and common patients in Cambodia," he said. "We highly commend the Chinese doctors for their contributions to improving our hospital's medical standards."

Tang Hao, defense attache of the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, said the PLA would continue to support the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, expressing his hope that the hospital would become a prestigious one in Cambodia and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the future.