King Abdullah II of Jordan inaugurated Tuesday the Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II Hospital funded by the Chinese government.

King Abdullah II expressed his gratitude for the generous help of the Chinese government when inspecting the hospital together with some Chinese officials.

Located in Ain Al Basha area, the hospital equipped with 130 beds will serve about 330,000 residents in the Ain Al Basha district, Abu Nseir, Jerash and the surrounding areas, the hospital's director Bassam Shloul said.

The hospital, which was built at a total cost of 18 million Jordanian dinars (about US$26 million), has a total area of 11,000 square meters, Shloul said.

"The hospital will help a large number of people and provide variety of specialized and general health services to people. The hospital's bed capacity can be doubled to serve more people," he said.

The medical facility, which has a total staff of about 380 including physicians and nurses, is designed and constructed by Chinese firms.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2010)