KINGSTON, May 20 -- A Chinese medical aid mission sent to Jamaica was praised as an example of generosity and internationalism Wednesday by a local official.

As part of the Chinese government's medical aid project "Bright Journey," five eye doctors and three nurses from China started work Monday at the state hospital in Kingston, where they are expected to perform some 200 cataract surgeries free of charge in 10 days.

The Chinese aid "to benefit Jamaican patients and to enhance our capability to deal with complicated eye diseases shows generosity and true internationalism," said Horace Dalley, Jamaica's minister of Public Service, during a visit there with Chinese Ambassador Dong Xiaojun.

The Chinese aid to Jamaica also includes the donation of medical equipment and supplies worth 400,000 U.S. dollars to the state hospital.

Garret Hall, 74, was among hundreds of Jamaicans to seek help from the Chinese doctors. He could hardly believe he has recovered his sight without paying a penny.

"The surgery lasted only half an hour and I felt no pain. Now I can see everything," Hall said.

Hall lost his sight three years ago and could not afford a cataract operation. "I could hardly believe it was a free treatment. But it's true," he said.

Since 2003, China's Bright Journey project has benefited up to 300 million eye patients in more than 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania.

The aid project was extended to cover Caribbean countries in 2013 following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Caribbean leaders in Trinidad and Tobago.

By the end of 2014, China has sent 65 medical professionals out of a total of 100 planned to the Bahamas, Dominica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, either to work regularly at hospitals or to provide short-term medical services.