From a console in Shanghai, French surgeon Youness Ahallal guided robotic arms in Morocco with real-time precision, delicately removing a patient's tumor.

Despite the staggering 12,000-kilometer distance between them, China's domestically developed Toumai surgical robot bridged the geographical divide to make transcontinental surgery a reality.

"With telecommunication techniques, Toumai Robot allows real-time, high-definition imaging and precise control of the robotic arms from a long distance," said Liu Yu, executive vice president of Shanghai Microport Medbot (Group) Co., Ltd, developer of the robot.

This breakthrough enables patients in underserved regions to access world-class medical expertise without enduring exhausting cross-border journeys. "The system also revolutionizes surgical workflows for doctors," Liu emphasized. "Previously, conducting cross-regional operations required extensive travel and coordination. Now, specialists can operate remotely with high efficiency."

To date, the Toumai platform has completed around 300 remote operations, maintaining a flawless safety record.

The Toumai Robot exemplifies China's rapid ascent as a pioneer in intelligent medical innovation. At the 2025 China Medical Equipment Exhibition in Chongqing in southwest China, AI-powered surgical systems, deep learning-enhanced diagnostic platforms, and cloud-connected robotic devices dominated the showcase.

"Toumai Robot focuses on minimally-invasive surgeries. It breaks through the limits of the hands of surgeons by filtering their physiologic tremor, which makes surgeries easier, safer, and less invasive," said Liu to flows of visitors at the company's exhibition booth.

Some medical equipment can help doctors make decisions. Longwood Valley MedTech, headquartered in Beijing, brought its ROPA orthopedic smart surgical robot with deep learning capabilities to the exhibition.

"This robot can be used in joint replacement and spinal operations as it utilizes AI to reconstruct three-dimensional images of patients' joints with CT images, based on which doctors can simulate operations and make pre-operation plans," said Chen Peng, vice president of Longwood Valley MedTech.

It usually takes one day for an engineer to make a three-dimensional image, compared to only one to three minutes by AI, Chen added.

Chen said the robot reduces operating time by about 30 percent on average. Less operating time means less anesthesia duration, exposure and possible complications.

The robot not only serves as a powerful "brain" but also as clever "hands." During operations, sub-millimeter precision optical positioning ensures the precise execution of every critical step of the pre-operation plans. Stable robotic arms help doctors overcome traditional limitations such as hand tremors.

In 2024, China's medical equipment market size surpassed 1.35 trillion yuan (about 188.2 billion U.S. dollars), according to data released during the exhibition.

Medical equipment is at the forefront of technological innovation, so efforts should be given to drive the digital and intelligent transformation of the medical equipment industry, said Xin Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology, when addressing the event on Saturday.

"It is important to accelerate the deep integration of emerging technologies such as 5G and AI with medical equipment and develop innovative application scenarios, including intelligent diagnostic systems and remote medical consultation platforms," Xin said.

In response to the US Embassy in Mexico's social media post quoting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that "We will counter China's influence by strengthening our alliances and diversifying supply chains," the Chinese Embassy in Mexico said on Friday that it firmly opposes such statement, noting that a lie, even if repeated a thousand times, will not become the truth.

Such remarks are filled with outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game thinking. The US never stops touting "strengthening alliances" and "diversifying supply chains," yet in reality, driven solely by self-interest, according to the official website of Chinese Embassy in Mexico on Friday.

The US flagrantly interferes in the internal affairs of Latin American countries, arbitrarily imposes unilateral and illegal sanctions, habitually shifts its own problems - such as drug trafficking and immigration - onto other nations, and routinely threatens to impose additional tariffs at every turn, according to the embassy. 

The US also deliberately jeopardizes the friendship between China and Latin America by sowing discord with the so-called "countering China's influence."

China-Latin America relationship stands upright with honor. Pragmatic cooperation between the two sides is not subject to any political conditions or third parties, meets the fundamental interests of the Chinese and Latin American people, and stands the test of history, said the embassy.

The Chinese Embassy solemnly urges the US side to restrain its arrogance and prejudice, respect the sovereignty and dignity of Latin American countries, and stop smearing and blackening China and China-Latin America relations. The embassy advises the US to carefully examine itself in the mirror, focus on self-improvement to address its domestic problems instead of shifting the blame onto others.