China fulfills donation pledge to tsunami-hit countries, says official

China has transferred 687.63 million yuan of donations to tsunami-hit countries in the Indian Ocean, carrying out its pledge in full, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

"All Chinese donations to the countries stricken by the Indian Ocean tsunami have been made, with most construction projects now complete and projects still under construction proceeding smoothly," Qin said, responding to a question about the Chinese government donations.

The Chinese government and people extend deep sympathy and condolence to disaster-hit countries and peoples for their great loss, Qin said, noting that this is the biggest emergency relief package that China has provided since the people's republic was founded in 1949.

The catastrophic tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004 left 37,000 people missing and caused 4.5 billion dollars of property losses.

The very next day, the Chinese government announced that it would provide 21.63 million yuan worth of emergency humanitarian relief in kind and cash. Later it added disaster assistance of 500 million yuan and multilateral donations of about 166 million yuan.

The Chinese government and people's actions were an embodiment of its good-neighborly policy of "forging friendship and partnership with neighbors" and were highly appreciated by governments and people from the tsunami-hit countries as well as the international community, the spokesman said.

"We will continue to work with other countries on the projects still under construction to help the victim countries recover from the disaster," Qin added.

Source: Xinhua