China will carry out its second batch of humanitarian aid to the tsunami-hit countries on Jan. 2, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaox ing presided over a meeting Saturday with officials from other ministries on the assistance work to the countries suffered from last Sunday's earthquake-triggered tsunami.

The meeting said the first batch of spot exchange and relief supplies had already arrived in relevant countries. The additional 500 million yuan (US$60.46 million) in humanitarian aid which Premier Wen Jiabao announced to offer for the earthquake- and tsunami-hit countries will be carried out "orderly according to their requirement."

The Ministry of Commerce will be responsible for allocating relief supplies, while the Ministry of Civil Affairs will deliver in time the donation of Chinese non-governmental organizations and people to the correlated organizations of the disaster countries such as the Red Cross.

A new medical treatment team which is set up by the Ministry of Health and some other experts dispatched by relevant departments have been packed up and ready to set out.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2005)