This photo taken on Oct. 12 shows group photo for the inauguration ceremony of the China-Cambodia Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

The China-Cambodia Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Center was launched in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Thursday, aiming to develop TCM in the Southeast Asian country.

Cambodia's Health Minister Chheang Ra, and Yu Yanhong, head of China's National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian jointly unveiled the center, which is located at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital.

Speaking at the event, Chheang Ra said the center was a new achievement in the health sector under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation framework between Cambodia and China.

"The center has provided fresh momentum to the development of the health sector in Cambodia, contributing further to building a high-quality, high-level and high-standard Cambodia-China community with a shared future in a new era," he said.

Yu said China has paid attention to the development of TCM, saying that TCM is very effective to treat a number of diseases.

Yu added that China would help develop the China-Cambodia Traditional Chinese Medicine Center into a high quality TCM center overseas.

Wang said the center is a new step in cooperation between the two countries in the field of traditional medicine.

"The center will not only offer health protection to local people in Cambodia, but also provide high-quality and high-level TCM professionals to Cambodian medical practitioners," he said.

The hospital's deputy director Mey Sithach said traditional Chinese medical teams, who have worked at the Chinese Medicine Clinic located at the hospital, have so far offered high-quality medical checkup and treatment to some 11,791 patients.

He said the center is very useful, offering medical diagnosis and serving the healthcare need of the Cambodian people.

"This TCM center will serve as a training venue for Cambodian medical practitioners across the country to gain insights into the TCM," he told Xinhua. "It will also promote cooperation between traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Cambodian medicine."