A China-funded university hospital in Benin has broken ground north of the West African country's capital Cotonou, with President Boni Yayi laying the first stone for the friendship project, the Benin Press Agency (ABP) reported on Monday.

Situated in Parakou, 425 km north of Cotonou, with a capacity of 100 beds, the hospital of 4 billion FCFA (8 million U.S. dollars) is expected to open in a year and a half for research work and teaching, with consultation, technical, radiology, operation and in-patient departments.

When completed, the university hospital of Parakou, the second national health center after that in Cotonou, will be able to provide clinical practice for 250 medical students with a laboratory for more than 150 students, ABP said, citing Beninese Health Minister Issifou Takpara.

The project is one of the 10 African hospitals committed by the Chinese government at the Beijing Summit of the China-African Cooperation Forum held in November 2006.

Source: Xinhua