Two cohorts of the “Cataract Blindness Elimination Program” have been completed in Djibouti since its launch in February 2023 and the third cohort is currently underway. More than 1700 free cataract surgeries have been completed since February 2023.

In the year of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Djibouti, GX Chairman, Mr. LEUNG Chun-ying, Board member, Dr. KO Wing-man, CEO, Prof. Emily CHAN Ying-yang attended the celebration ceremony of the 1st anniversary of the “Cataract Blindness Elimination Program” launch in Djibouti. During their visit, they met with the Djiboutian Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh, and high level officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as visited the China-aided hospital in Tadjoura.

At the celebration ceremony, Chairman LEUNG announced that GX will donate 5000 rapid dengue test kits and 1800 Chikungunya test kits to the Djiboutian Ministry of Health to assist the country’s fight against vector-borne diseases. The project on the protection against dengue fever will be launched locally soon to foster people-to-people connectivity through medical assistance.

As they were in Djibouti during Eid al-Fitr, which marked the end of the month-long fasting in Ramadan, Chairman LEUNG visited patients who had completed their surgeries and gifted them local and Chinese snacks.

Witnessed by Mr. LEUNG Chun-ying, Chairman of the GX Foundation and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, as well as Ms. YU Bo, the Chinese Ambassador to Honduras, GX CEO, Professor Emily CHAN Ying-yang, and the Minister of Health of Honduras, Ms. Karla PAREDES REYES signed a Letter of Intent virtually yesterday (20 April), which served to further strengthen collaboration between both parties.

GX Foundation CEO, Professor Emily CHAN Ying-yang expressed that “based on the Letter of Intent, GX Foundation will donate 5 types of anti-dengue supplies and send teams to launch the program in Honduras, controlling the outbreak risk of dengue fever and other vector-borne diseases in the country through a combination of timely diagnosis, protecting other citizens, and community-wide promotion and education”.

China and Honduras signed the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras on 26 March 2023, recognizing each other and establishing ambassador-level diplomatic relations. The GX team also attended the reception celebrating the 1st anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations between China and Honduras this March.

GX Foundation Chairman and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Mr. LEUNG Chun-ying stated that “the geographic distance between Honduras and China will not deter the exchange between the people of both countries. The medical assistance programs of GX Foundation have provided a participatory platform for Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong people to take part in realizing people-to-people connectivity. The signing of the Letter of Intent between GX Foundation and the Honduras Ministry of Health, which makes the Foundation the first Chinese non-governmental organization working in Honduras, marks a new chapter in public diplomacy of Hong Kong.”

The newly appointed Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, Mr. CUI Jianchun, met with Chairman of GX Foundation and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Mr. LEUNG Chun-ying, during which they exchanged views on topics such as strengthening and boosting Hong Kong’s position as an international financial, trade and maritime centre to better leverage the unique role of Hong Kong in the national strategy of domestic-international dual circulation and telling China’s and Hong Kong’s stories well.

Chairman of GX Foundation and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Mr. LEUNG Chun-ying, welcomed the arrival of Commissioner CUI Jianchun to assume office in Hong Kong. He expressed his willingness to work closely with Commissioner CUI and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contribute Hong Kong’s strengths to the development of China.

Commissioner CUI thanked Chairman LEUNG for his long-term dedication to the country’s foreign affairs and his active role in promoting various platforms, including GX Foundation, all of which served to foster public diplomacy and people-to-people connectivity of the Belt and Road Initiative.