CHENGDU, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A hospital in China has established a telemedicine service platform to expand medical aid to patients in Sao Tome and Principe.

The West China Hospital, based in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, founded a telemedicine network alliance with Sao Tome and Principe Central Hospital, it said.

Chen Yi, a gastrointestinal surgeon at the Chinese hospital, proposed the establishment of the network to benefit a wider range of patients. Chen led a team of Chinese medical staff to provide aid in the African country in January.

Since 1988, the hospital has sent 21 medical staff to provide aid to Sao Tome and Principe.

"The doctors we sent are only specialized in certain fields. The telemedicine system will include more medical staff into the service," said Zhang Wei, Communist Party chief of the West China Hospital.

The telemedicine platform will make the best doctors and surgeons the Chinese hospital available to patients in the African country, he said.

It will allow Chinese doctors to perform robot-assisted surgeries in the future, he said.