In 2005, the Chinese government made significant contributions to major international emergency relief operations including the December 2004 tsunami relief, hurricane disaster relief in the United States, and aid to earthquake victims in Pakistan.

This was announced by Vice Minister of Commerce Chen Jian at a press conference on Wednesday held by the State Council Information Office.

China's contribution to the tsunami relief was the largest it had ever made.

The Chinese government pledged 21.63 million yuan (US$2.7 million) worth of emergency humanitarian relief in equipment and cash. It later increased that amount by 500 million yuan and collected further multilateral donations worth US$20 million, Chen said.

In addition to cash donations, the government dispatched medical teams, international rescue teams, DNA testing groups and divers to the affected areas, Chen added.

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the southern United States last August, China offered US$5 million worth of assistance and emergency relief materials, Chen said.

Emergency relief to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Vietnam was also provided to help combat bird flu. Cash and materials were also donated to flood-hit Romania, earthquake-stricken Iran, to Guinea-Bissau to tackle the locust plague and cholera, to Ecuador to control the dengue fever outbreak in Ecuador, and to victims of a hurricane in Uruguay.?

Emergency food aid was also offered to Niger, Burundi, Lesotho, Djibouti, Zambia and Mozambique.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2006)