China has given the main hospital in São Tomé and Príncipe, the Ayres Menezes Hospital, medicines and medical paraphernalia worth 72,000 euros (about US$86,300), the Téla Nón website says.

Sino-São Toméan friendship and cooperation impel China to keep supporting healthcare in São Tomé and Príncipe, a report carried by the São Toméan website on Wednesday quotes Chinese Ambassador to São Tomé and Príncipe Xu Yingzhen as saying.

Separately, a written statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in São Tomé says the gift is meant to make up for shortages at the hospital, and so improve the service it gives.

The embassy says the medicines and medical paraphernalia were formally turned over on Monday, following the arrival in São Tomé and Príncipe last week of a Chinese medical mission.

The surgeons, cardiologists, gynaecologists and acupuncturists undertaking the mission will work for three years at the Ayres Menezes Hospital and at a clinic in nearby Água Grande,  the Chinese Embassy in São Tomé says.