Two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that team up US and Chinese volunteers in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, are planning to dispatch volunteers to North Korea, agency executives told China Daily on Thursday.

The US-based Global Volunteers and the Xi'an-based Sino-American Society share a common goal as they send teams of volunteers to North Korea, Global Volunteers CEO Bud Philbrook said.

Philbrook was in Xi'an for a celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the partnership between the two NGOs.

Also on Thursday, 83 US volunteers gathered in Xi'an to start their three-week placements to help local residents.

The US volunteers are linked with Philbrook's organization, which has been working in Shaanxi Province at the invitation of the Sino-American Society since 1996.

"With the long-term relationship between China and North Korea, it is our hope that the North Koreans will extend an invitation to Global Volunteers through the Sino-American Society," Philbrook said.

The two NGOs are planning to expand the current program, Sino-American Society President An Wei said.

Philbrook announced that Global Volunteers will establish programs in other Chinese provinces, and for the first time, the Sino-American Society will send Chinese volunteers to serve in communities in the United States starting later this year or early next year.

Under the current program, teams of volunteers share knowledge and expertise with Chinese counterparts in business, law and healthcare, as well as teaching English conversation to schoolchildren.

(China Daily May 14, 2004)