Beninese President Boni Yayi on Sunday inaugurated a hospital built with Chinese aid to mark the latest progress in bilateral ties and cooperation.

Accompanied by Chinese Ambassador to Benin Geng Wenbing, President Yayi attended the ceremony at the newly built hospital in Parakou, 425 km northeast of the capital Cotonou.

The modern hospital of 6 billion FCFA (12 million U. S. dollars) with a capacity of 100 beds will have services including paediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, laboratory, medical imaging and the mortuary.

This hospital adds to Chinese projects in Benin like the ongoing construction of an administrative block in Cotonou, the construction of a dormitory at the Natitingou girls high school located 550 km northwest of Cotonou and the pilot agricultural center recently inaugurated.

China has also promised to invest 144 billion FCFA (288 million dollars) in the rehabilitation of a 102,350 km road and two bypasses measuring 33.5 km from northern Benin to the southern part of the West African country. The road will serve regional countries in the hinterland like Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and Nigeria.