TUNIS, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The hospital built with China's assistance in Sfax in east Tunisia shows a successful cooperation between Tunisia and China in the field of health, Tunisian Regional Director of Health in Sfax Ali Ayadi said on Sunday.

A delegation of Chinese doctors on a voluntary medical assistance mission went to the construction site of this hospital Sunday, to cure Tunisian and Chinese workers.

The Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Tunisia Zhang Fengling said that "we hope to see the bilateral cooperation between China and Tunisia in the area of health lifted to an upper level."

Starting construction in December 2016 and to be completed by the end of 2019, this hospital will specialize in cardiovascular treatment.

Covering an area of 26,000 square meters and with about 250 beds, the hospital will have a surgical unit, with five operating rooms, an emergency department, a radiology center and a surgical center.

In the first four months this year, Chinese medical team in Tunisia has provided 18,000 consultations and 1,559 surgical operations.

China started sending medical teams to Tunisia in the 1970s as part of its medical aid efforts abroad. Around 1,000 Chinese doctors have worked in the North African country ever since.