China completes marine medical rescue exercise

QINGDAO - China has completed a six-day military-civilian joint exercise on marine rescue, the first of its kind, in the Yellow Sea.

The operation, code-named "Weiqin Mission - 2013", was organized by the medical unit under the logistics department of the People's Liberation Army.

Hospital ships, water ambulances and rescue helicopters from the navy were joined by civilian medical teams from the provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Anhui as well as Xiamen city, according to the organizer.

The drills, which ended on Monday, focused on logistics command and coordination, classification and treatment of the wounded as well as the war-time use of information systems.

The exercise has boosted the participants' sense of crisis and war preparedness, as well as their capabilities in adapting to environments, fast response, treatment of injuries and military-civilian coordination, said Li Yunbo, who was in charge of instructing the drills.