A spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce said
that 21.6 million yuan (US$2.6 million) in emergency aid has been
delivered so far to countries affected by the earthquake-triggered
tsunami on December 26.
According to Chong Quan, speaking in Beijing
yesterday, over half of the 500 million yuan (US$60.2 million)
pledged for reconstruction work has also been used or
allocated.
The work funded ranged from provision of rescue
equipment, financial aid, medical and rescue teams, DNA testing and
inspection teams to holding the China-ASEAN symposium on tsunami
disaster relief, said the spokesperson.
The recipients have included Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
the Maldives, Thailand, Kenya, Somalia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the
Seychelles, as well as a foundation of the Indian prime
minister.
The government has also pledged to help rebuild
schools and houses, repair fishing ports and establish an
earthquake and tsunami monitoring and early-warning system, Chong
said.
In addition, US$5 million of the US$20 million
promised for multilateral assistance has been delivered to UN
agencies, and China is consulting with them on how to best use the
remaining money.
"The aid provided by the government is the largest
ever both in terms of scale and value," said Chong.
"The Ministry of Commerce, as the leading
government branch delivering aid, has adopted measures to ensure
quality and quantity of provisions, especially food and medicines,"
he added.
According to official figures, the total sum of aid
offered by both the government and people of China topped 1 billion
yuan (US$120.5 million) by January 21.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2005)