China has decided to offer emergency aid worth US$6.2 million to Pakistan, which was rocked by a 7.6-magnitude quake Saturday morning together with India and Afghanistan, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kong Quan said on Sunday.

The Chinese government sent a 49-member international rescue team Sunday morning to the quake-hit areas in Pakistan to issue humanitarian aid, Kong said.

The team took eight tons of specialized rescue and research equipment and nine tons of goods for disaster relief, according to sources with the China Seismological Bureau.

It is the fourth time China has provided aid to the quake-hit countries. It also helped Algeria and Iran in 2003 and in the Indonesian tsunami last year.

In the wake of the deadly quake, Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing sent their messages of sympathy and cordial regards, respectively, to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, and Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Natwar Singh.

Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan has also conveyed Li Zhaoxing's sympathy to Afghan foreign minister over the quake.

One Chinese working in local Chinese organization died and four others got injured in the deadly quake that has reportedly killed more than 18,500 people.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)