A group of children with congenital heart disease from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have successfully undergone surgery in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

Sources at the General Hospital of Guangzhou's Military Command of the People's Liberation Army said the hospital will provide surgeries for 23 children from Xinjiang, of which 11 have been treated well.

The surgeries are part of a nationwide campaign to provide free medical treatment for as many as 249 children from Oct to August next year.

Under a team led by Zhang Weida, director of the hospital's cardiothoracic surgery department, the Guangzhou-based hospital has so far provided free services for 7,599 children from 10 provinces and regions in the past several years.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn