The Chinese medical team left Colombo for home Wednesday early morning after concluding its aid efforts to tsunami-hit Sri Lanka.

China sent a 14-member medical team to the island nation on Jan. 3 after the tsunami hit South and Southeast Asia on Dec. 26, 2004. Three doctors from Macao joined the team on Jan. 8.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, Sri Lankan Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, met with the team in Colombo on Tuesday and expressed his gratitude for China's medical relief efforts in time of unprecedented tsunami disaster.

Silva appreciated the great help Chinese medical team had given to Sri Lanka's tsunami-affected area, stressing "China is always a dear friend of Sri Lanka, especially in time of disaster."

The medical team has stayed in Hikkaduwa, a tsunami-hit town some 90 kilometers off the country's capital Colombo and treated 2,060 post-tsunami victims. Besides, it also contributed much to the local public health.

The team, the largest one in this area, has earned great prestige for itself.

(People's Daily Online January 19, 2005)