Chinese, U.S. charities launch hearing-aid donation

 BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Charity foundations from the United States and China are to jointly¹ carry out a 10-year program to help Chinese with hearing loss.

The Audiology Development Foundation of China launched the initiative on Friday with the American Starkey Hearing Foundation, which will provide hearing-aids for free.

The first phase of the program will be implemented² in west China's cities of Xi'an and Chengdu, where more than 6,000 hearing-impaired people will receive custom-made hearing aids.

According to Tao Siliang, chairman of the Audiology Development Foundation of China, it has been the largest hearing-aid donation from overseas to China since 1949.

The American Starkey Hearing Foundation has specialized³ in providing free assistance to hearing-impaired people in poor families since its founding in 1973.

1 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

2 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

3 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。