The Chinese government donated vehicles, security equipment and kitchenware worthy of US$1 million to Afghan parliament on Thursday, once again providing timely assistance to the country under reconstruction.

 

Liu Jian, the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, and Ghulam Hassan Gan, deputy secretary-general of the lower house of Afghan parliament, signed an agreement on the donation.

 

The stuffs include 20 jeeps, 20 pickup trucks, sets of security monitoring system, lots of cooking utensils and others.

 

Liu said the Chinese government has consistently supported Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction and provided assistance in its power.

 

China attaches great importance to developing the ties between its legislative and Afghan parliament, and hopes the two legislatives can carry out more communication and exchange in the future, he added.

 

On behalf of Afghan parliament, Gan thanked the Chinese government for providing the aid, saying as Afghanistan's neighboring country, China has played an active role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, which suffered decades of war, and afforded timely assistance frequently.

 

In another latest case, on November 2, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Chinese ambassador Liu Jian laid the foundation stone for the China-funded new main building of Jamhuriat Hospital in Kabul.

 

With an investment of some US$16 million, the project will bring Afghan patients a 10-storeyed new building, which has 350 beds and a total of about 19,000 sqm construction areas.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)