Hong Kong charity expands public health efforts across belt and road countries

Hong Kong-based charity GX Foundation is broadening its public health initiatives in belt and road countries, as Chinese enterprises are increasingly expected to consider the “social dimension” of their operations beyond foreign investment pursuits, its chairman, former city leader Leung Chun-ying, has said.

The foundation signed a memorandum of understanding with its business partners to launch a project on health risk prevention against dengue fever and other vector-borne diseases at Cambodia’s Techo International Airport and the Funan Techo Integrated Water Resources Management project on Tuesday.

“It’s commendable for them to seriously consider this social dimension – looking after the communities who live near the project sites,” Leung added, noting that protecting construction workers was another major issue as public health was also a key part of economic development.

“[The companies] made a request for us to do this. It’s important to mention that because we’re a charity and therefore we are not charging the airport company or the canal company for the work. It’s a contribution to the friendship of China and Cambodia.”

Leung said that collaborating with the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) was not done simply because it was a Chinese company, but because highway and water management projects often became routes for mosquito transmission, making “disease prevention” necessary.

“We have worked on disease prevention for all 24 stops along the China-Laos Railway before with really good effects,” noted Leung, now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body.