EMAS’ work in China includes China West (two teams), China South (three teams), China East (two teams), and Guangdong (one team). Together, several hundred EMAS volunteers serve on short-term medical trips in the country every year.

HISTORY

CHINA EAST  In 1986, the Friends of China invited an EMAS team of three participants to visit. A team of 15 returned again in 1987. Since then, at least one team has visited hospitals in eastern China every year.

CHINA WEST  In 1991, at the request of another international aid agency, an exploratory team visited the region in Northwest China. This was the beginning of an ever-enlarging reach in this area, which now includes a second team which visits a nearby province.

CHINA SOUTH  Work in southern China began in 1994 in the province of Yunnan. Three teams in China South now provide medical training, medical and dental care, surgery, post-operative rehabilitation, audiology and psychiatric care within the region.

GUANGDONG  Eventually our reach was expanded to include the Guangdong Province. As China’s urban health care standards have improved, many of our teams have focused on underserved areas beyond city centres. Accordingly, the EMAS team in Guangdong has ventured inland, further from the Hong Kong metropolis.