The Chinese government has decided to donate an additional 100 million yuan (about 15 million U.S. dollars) worth of emergency supplies to Venezuela for earthquake relief and reconstruction, a Foreign Ministry spokesman announced on Monday.
A pair of powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 1,450 people and injuring thousands of others.
"China is closely following updates on the earthquake disaster in Venezuela. President Xi Jinping has sent a message of condolence to Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez," spokesman Guo Jiakun said in response to a media query regarding the disaster at a press conference in Beijing.
"The Chinese government has decided to provide Venezuela with an additional 100 million yuan worth of emergency relief supplies for earthquake relief and reconstruction on top of the previous cash assistance. These supplies will be delivered to Venezuela as soon as possible," Guo announced.
"China has also provided Venezuela with satellite images of the quake-hit areas to support its earthquake relief efforts," he added.
"Chinese-funded enterprises and overseas Chinese communities in Venezuela have voluntarily provided Venezuelan authorities with urgently needed construction machinery and medical supplies for the rescue efforts, and have formed rescue teams to actively participate in the search and rescue work," said the spokesman.
"We stand ready to offer more support to Venezuela as the disaster response progresses," Guo said.
China donates additional 100 million yuan worth of supplies to quake-hit Venezuela
