China pledges to offer more help to famine-stricken Horn of Africa 2011-10-13 18:17:07

BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- China will provide more help to famine-stricken countries in the Horn of Africa, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

China has pledged to offer 443.2 million yuan (70 million U.S. dollars) in emergency grain and funds to help the region cope with its worst drought in six decades, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said during a daily press briefing.

On the sidelines of the UN general debate earlier this year, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that China will consider providing medical equipment and medicine according to the demands of the affected countries.

Emergency food aid provided by China has been warmly welcomed by the local government and victims in the Horn of Africa, Liu said.

"With the help of the international community, I believe that the affected countries and their people will overcome these difficulties," Liu said.

China-donated food has been shipped to the affected countries since September, when the first shipment of Chinese grain arrived in Kenya, Liu said.

On Wednesday, the United Nations World Food Program began distributing food that was purchased with a 16-million-U.S.-dollar donation from China to hungry families in Somalia.