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UN food programme hails China’s emergence as multilateral aid donor

UN food programme hails China’s emergence as multilateral aid donor

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today hailed China's continuing emergence as a multilateral aid donor with the departure of a Chinese ship carrying 270 tons of canned fish for Sri Lankan victims of last December's devastating tsunami.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today hailed China's continuing emergence as a multilateral aid donor with the departure of a Chinese ship carrying 270 tons of canned fish for Sri Lankan victims of last December's devastating tsunami.

“This generous and timely assistance testifies to China's strong sense of solidarity with a fellow Asian country still struggling to recover from the deadly disaster,” WFP Executive Director James Morris said.

“It also underscores the Beijing Government's growing commitment to multilateralism as a way of solving the world's humanitarian and development problems.”

The Bunga Bidara steamed out of China’s east coast port of Qingdao this morning en route to Colombo with 16 containers of mackerel valued at $320,000, the first of two such shipments worth a total of $1 million to support WFP food-for-work schemes helping 180,000 Sri Lankans rebuild roads and other infrastructure damaged by the tsunami.

“Having made unparalleled progress in reducing poverty, China is now forging a broader relationship with us that reflects our shared vision of a world free of hunger,” WFP's acting Country Director for China, Dominique Frankefort, said.