2010-06-22 17:22

BEIJING - China hopes its humanitarian aid to Uzbekistan would help resettle Kyrgyz refugees in that country, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday.

China on Monday sent the aid materials worth 3 million yuan ($440,000) to Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan. The materials include rice, sugar, biscuits, children's clothes, sanitary materials, small power generators and antibiotics.

"We hope the aid will help Uzbek authorities resettle the refugees," Qin said through a press release.

The aid will be transported to border areas where Kyrgyz refugees, who have fled violence in their country, are sheltering.

Qin said Uzbekistan urgently needed humanitarian aid because a large number of Kyrgyz refugees had flocked into the country.

Figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs showed that an estimated 100,000 refugees had fled from Kyrgyzstan to neighboring Uzbekistan, and 300,000 others were still seeking aid within Kyrgyzstan.