The first emergency relief supplies provided by the Chinese government to assist Venezuela following recent devastating earthquakes arrived Monday at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, near the Venezuelan capital Caracas.
The initial shipment, weighing over 80 tons, included 20 generators, eight water purification vehicles, 200 disinfection units, 200 sets of solar lighting equipment, more than 1,700 tents, and over 6,700 blankets.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil and Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Lan Hu received the supplies at the airport.
Gil thanked the Chinese government and its leaders on behalf of the Venezuelan people, saying China had maintained close communication with the Venezuelan government since the earthquakes struck.
The supplies are of great significance to people who lost their homes in the disaster, Gil said, adding that they demonstrate the enduring all-weather strategic partnership between the two countries.
Gil said the Chinese community and Chinese-funded enterprises in Venezuela had actively extended a helping hand since the disaster struck, joining rescue efforts and helping displaced residents from the very beginning.
Many of those scenes were deeply moving, he said, adding that the Venezuelan people had seen the support and that the two peoples, living on the same land, had developed a deep friendship.
On the night of June 24, Venezuela was hit by two powerful quakes above magnitude 7 which struck within a minute. The quakes, the strongest in the country in more than a century, have left 3,342 people and 16,740 injured so far.
First Chinese relief supplies arrive in quake-ravaged Venezuela
