Disaster-relief materials valuing about 820,000 U.S. dollars,
provided by the defense department of the United States of America
for freezing-disaster affected areas of China, arrived in Shanghai
Friday.
Qian Lihua, head of the foreign affairs office of China's
National Defense Ministry, expressed appreciations of the Chinese
side for the US emergency humanitarian assistance, which includes
6,000 winter coats, 1,657 blankets and 87,552 military food ration
packs.
He said these materials would help people in the
disaster-stricken areas and promote the friendship between the two
peoples and the two armed forces.
The Chinese armed forces will continue to strengthen substantial
cooperation with the US side in humanitarian assistance and
disaster-relief, and advance the sound and steady development of
military relations between the two sides, said Qian.
The foreign affairs office of China's National Defense Ministry
has transferred the materials to Shanghai's civil affairs
department, which will dispatch the materials to
affected areas, according to the office.
The snow havoc, the worst in five decades, and even in a century
in a few areas, caused deaths, structural collapses, blackouts,
accidents, transport problems and livestock and crop losses in 19
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
It has killed more than 80 people, toppled 300,000 homes,
damaged 90 million hectares of crops and resulted in direct
economic losses of about 80 billion yuan, according to the Red
Cross Society of China.
(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2008)