Over the past 15 years, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hospital ship Peace Ark has delivered medical care to more than 370,000 people across 52 countries. The ship has transformed humanitarian outreach into a powerful vessel of diplomacy and friendship.

The hospital ship, China's first domestically designed and built standardized oceangoing medical vessel, was commissioned in December 2008 with the hull number 866. With a displacement of 14,300 tonnes, features five major medical zones, from triage to surgery, spanning over 4,000 square meters.