The Lifeline Express project, established in 1997, has emerged as a significant healthcare initiative by utilizing trains as mobile hospitals dedicated to delivering cataract surgeries. According to the Chinese Foundation for Lifeline Express, the project has successfully operated in remote and less developed areas, benefiting around 240,000 individuals across 28 provincial-level regions over the past three decades.

Initially launched as a gesture from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to celebrate its return to China, the project has expanded its fleet to include four specialized trains and has collaborated with 33 hospitals throughout its journey. Additionally, the initiative has established 96 ophthalmology centers across 24 regions and has trained over 340 grassroots ophthalmologists in cataract surgical methods.

In recent years, particularly since 2016, the Lifeline Express has increased its presence in countries associated with the Belt and Road Initiative. This expansion has included conducting 4,360 cataract surgeries for patients from Uzbekistan and neighboring countries, along with contributing blindness prevention cooperation centers in four member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. For the current year, the project plans to send out two trains to perform free surgeries for approximately 6,000 cataract patients and will deploy mobile medical teams to five cities to further its outreach efforts.