China has worked actively to aid Palestinian refugees and responded positively in increasing its contribution to relieving the refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories, said a visiting UN official in Beijing Tuesday.  

Peter Hansen, commissioner-general of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), told a press conference that his tour was aimed at seeking increased aid to the Palestinian refugees, which can somewhat help stabilize the situation in the Middle East and relieve the refugees.

"After talking to officials from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Commerce, I learned the Chinese government has responded in a positive way to my appeal," said Hansen.

Hansen said in a statement last December that the agency launched the emergency appeal to the international community, asking for US$193 million to continue relief services to Palestinian refugees in 2004.

More funding is needed to create employment and build shelters for the refugees in a humanitarian sense, said Hansen at the press conference, adding that he is grateful China has increased its contribution to the agency's regular budget.

At a UN meeting on the Palestine issue held in Beijing last December, China said it had not only worked actively to promote peace in the Middle East through diplomatic channels, but also provided humanitarian assistance to Palestine.

UNRWA, by far the largest UN operation in the Middle East, aims to provide education, health care social service and emergency aid to over four million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Hansen will also visit Japan and the Republic of Korea in a few days.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2004)