Premier: We'll do our best to help
By Qin Jize and Jiao Xiaoyang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-11 05:54

China stands ready to provide whatever help it can for the reconstruction work in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, which were rocked by a 7.6-magnitude quake on Saturday morning.

Premier Wen Jiabao made the promise yesterday while extending "deepest sympathies" and condolences for the loss of human lives and properties in the three affected countries.

He also expressed confidence that the people of the three nations would overcome the difficulties and succeed in rebuilding their homes and lives.

President Hu Jintao had sent condolence messages to the three countries shortly after the quake.

In a meeting with their ambassadors and diplomats in Beijing, Wen noted that China's rescue team had already started relief work in Pakistan.

The Ministry of Commerce yesterday sent US$1 million in cash and shipped 90 tons of relief materials including tents, blankets and quilts to Pakistan. On Sunday, the first consignment was sent along with a 49-member rescue team.

China has promised to Pakistan humanitarian assistance that includes US$6.2 million worth of relief materials and funds. More aid is on the way today and tomorrow.

The Red Cross Society of China yesterday offered US$100,000 and US$50,000 in cash to Pakistan and India respectively.

A Hong Kong woman and her two sons who were unaccounted for in Pakistan after the quake were found safe and sound, the Chinese Embassy revealed yesterday.

But South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region yesterday confirmed the identity of the Chinese engineer who was killed in the Pakistan quake.

Huang Bingkun, 39, was an engineer at the Guangxi Hydro-electrical Bureau. He was sent to northwestern Pakistan's Allai Khwar River area in February last year to work on a hydropower station project.

Huang's remains will be cremated in Pakistan in the next few days, a Guangxi official said.

At yesterday's meeting with Premier Wen, the ambassadors and diplomats expressed appreciation to the Chinese Government and its people for the timely assistance.

Salman Bashir, Pakistan's ambassador to China, said China was one of the earliest countries to offer assistance and dispatch a rescue team to his country, a testament to the traditional friendship between the two countries.

(China Daily 10/11/2005 page1)