A spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce said that 21.6 million yuan (US$2.6 million) in emergency aid has been delivered so far to countries affected by the earthquake-triggered tsunami on December 26.

According to Chong Quan, speaking in Beijing yesterday, over half of the 500 million yuan (US$60.2 million) pledged for reconstruction work has also been used or allocated.

The work funded ranged from provision of rescue equipment, financial aid, medical and rescue teams, DNA testing and inspection teams to holding the China-ASEAN symposium on tsunami disaster relief, said the spokesperson.

The recipients have included Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand, Kenya, Somalia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Seychelles, as well as a foundation of the Indian prime minister.

The government has also pledged to help rebuild schools and houses, repair fishing ports and establish an earthquake and tsunami monitoring and early-warning system, Chong said.

In addition, US$5 million of the US$20 million promised for multilateral assistance has been delivered to UN agencies, and China is consulting with them on how to best use the remaining money.

"The aid provided by the government is the largest ever both in terms of scale and value," said Chong.

"The Ministry of Commerce, as the leading government branch delivering aid, has adopted measures to ensure quality and quantity of provisions, especially food and medicines," he added.

According to official figures, the total sum of aid offered by both the government and people of China topped 1 billion yuan (US$120.5 million) by January 21.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2005)