Chinese premier returns after attending tsunami summit

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao returned to the southern city of Shenzhen Thursday evening after attending a special international meeting for helping the tsunami-hit Asian countries in Indonesia.

Wen arrived in Shenzhen by a special plane after a whole day's meeting in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia. He left Beijing Wednesday to attend the special meeting initiated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the aftermath of earthquakes and tsunamis that hit some South and Southeast Asian countries on Dec. 26, 2004.

Leaders of 26 countries and international organizations attended the meeting, designed to scale up disaster relief efforts by the international community and strengthen regional cooperation on disaster prevention.

During the meeting, Wen reiterated China's promise to increase aid to the tsunami-hit countries.

Wen announced in Beijing last Friday that China would donate an additional 500 million yuan (60.46 million US dollars) worth of aid on top of the 21 million yuan (about 1.4 million US dollars) donation it had already committed to the tsunami-hit countries.

Wen also brought 16 tons of relief supplies for Indonesia aboard his special airplane to Jakarta.

China has sent several medical and rescue teams to these countries to help with their disaster relief efforts.

In addition to the Chinese government's effort, social organizations such as the Red Cross and the ordinary people across the country have been mobilized to donate for the victims of the disaster.

Source: Xinhua