China donated US$500,000 on Friday to a trust fund to support the diplomatic efforts by the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) to end the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, met with UN Assistant Secretary-General and Controller Warren Sach Friday afternoon at the UN Headquarters and made the contribution to the Trust Fund for the AU-UN Joint Mediation Support Team for Darfur on behalf of the Chinese government.

Liu told Sach that China has been closely following the situation in Darfur and that China supports the international efforts to push forward the political process in the region and supports the efforts by the two special envoys of the UN and the AU in this regard.

In making the US$500,000 contribution to back the diplomatic efforts, China sincerely hopes that concerned parties will reach a comprehensive peace agreement as soon as possible so as to settle the Darfur issue in an appropriate way, Liu said.

Liu added that China will continue to work together with the international community and play a constructive role in seeking to resolve the Darfur issue.

In his remarks, Sach thanked China for the donation, saying that it demonstrated China's strong support for the political process in Darfur.

China is the first developing country to have contributed to the trust fund, which was set up in September last year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2008)