"Laowai" in China | Kazakh ophthalmologist witnesses China, Kazakhstan lasting friendship in Daqing

HARBIN, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Saulebek Kabylbekov is a 66-year-old Kazakh ophthalmologist at Daqing Ophthalmology Hospital who could communicate with patients fluently in a northeastern Chinese dialect.

In the 1990s, as an outstanding young ophthalmologist of Kazakhstan, Saulebek visited China multiple times for work and academic exchanges. In 1998, when Daqing Ophthalmology Hospital was established, he came to provide technical assistance, introducing advanced ophthalmic technologies at that time.

Having worked at the hospital for 27 years, he trained dozens of outstanding young doctors and treated more than 200,000 patients with eye diseases. In 2024, Saulebek was awarded the Chinese Government Friendship Award at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

This year, Saulebek was granted the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card issued by the National Immigration Administration of China. "When I first arrived in China, my hair and beard were thick and black. Now they have turned white," he said, determined to uphold the patients' trust, "I will continue to work here as long as I can."