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China to continue providing support to flood-hit Pakistan

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China will continue to provide support to flood-hit Pakistan to meet the humanitarian needs of the people and help with its reconstruction, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in New York Sunday.

A guard stands beside humanitarian goods donated by the Chinese government at a military airport in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Aug. 19, 2010. [Yan Zhonghua/Xinhua]

"The Chinese government will continue to provide within the realm of its capability support to the resettlement and reconstruction in Pakistan," Yang told a high-level ministerial meeting on Pakistan held at the UN headquarters in New York.

Yang said China stood firmly with Pakistan during this difficult period and extended various forms of assistance.

Immediately after the floods happened, the Chinese government airlifted the first batch of relief material to Islamabad and later increased the amount of assistance several times, Yang said.

China has announced a total of 320 million yuan (some 47.6 million U.S. dollars) of assistance, 120 million yuan (some 17.8 million U.S. dollars) of which has already been delivered in the form of relief supplies. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has provided 10 million yuan (1.5 million U.S. dollars) of relief supplies to the Pakistan military.

The Chinese international search and rescue team has sent two successive groups to the hard-hit area in southern Pakistan. The Chinese PLA has also sent medical personnel and helicopters to help with the relief efforts, Yang said.

Besides, the Red Cross Society of China, local governments, NGO, the public and Chinese enterprises in Pakistan have all made donations in cash or in kind, the total value amounts to some 40 million yuan (some 6 million U.S. dollars).

Facts have shown that China and Pakistan are true friends sharing will and woe, Yang said.

"China offers assistance to Pakistan while we ourselves are severely hit by natural disasters," he said, adding that China has not attached any condition to its assistance or asked for anything in return.

"We have lent a helping hand because we value our special friendship with Pakistan, and we have done so out of international humanitarian spirit," the foreign minister said.

He added that China will send a reconstruction assessment team to the disaster zone in the near future and encourage support and active participation of Chinese enterprises in the reconstruction efforts. China will also cooperate with relevant Pakistani agencies and provide training in disaster prevention and reduction to boost Pakistan's capacity for early warning in disaster response.

"We believe that when providing aid the international community should fully respect Pakistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, pay heed to the needs and wishes of the Pakistani people and ensure prompt delivery of the pledged assistance so that people of Pakistan can truly benefit from such assistance," Yang said.