In December 1963, China's then Premier Zhou Enlai (1898–1976, seventh right, front row) and Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Chen Yi (1901–1972, fifth right, front row) meet with members of China's first medical aid team to Algeria.

In 1963, a Chinese medical team left Beijing for Saïda, a city in northwestern Algeria. That was the first time China sent health workers to a foreign land, opening a new chapter in China's aid to foreign countries with a life-saving endeavor. In the past 60 years, Chinese medical aid teams have served recipient countries and their people by not only preventing and treating infectious diseases, common diseases and frequently-occurring diseases, but also introducing sophisticated clinical medical techniques, and integrated traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine treatment. They also helped train local medical workers, leaving Chinese medical expertise behind them.

On February 9, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote a reply letter to the 19th Chinese medical team dispatched to the Central African Republic. In his letter, Xi praised the medical personnel for overcoming difficulties in work and life in providing services for local people, saying that they are not only saving lives, but also building friendship.