China to send 20 mn yuan humanitarian aid to SriLanka, Malaysia
January 11, 2015, 7:01 am

Flash floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka have killed at least 39 people and more than 1 million have had to flee their homes in the past few weeks, data from the island’s Disaster Management Centre showed last week [Xinhua]

Flash floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka have killed at least 39 people and more than 1 million have had to flee their homes in the past few weeks, data from the island’s Disaster Management Centre showed last week.

Malaysia has suffered its worst flood in past 45 years since the end of 2014, with over 200,000 people evacuated from their homes.

The first batch of 2,500 tents will soon be sent to Kuala Lumpur by air, Sun Jiwen, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

Other goods and materials were being prepared according to the needs of the two countries and would be dispatched soon, Sun added.

Thousands of hectares of crops, mainly the food staple rice, have been destroyed in the agricultural heartland of the North Central and Eastern provinces in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s shock election result this week ended a decade of rule by Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Maithripala Sirisena on his election as Sri Lanka’s new head of state. Although most media analysis following the Sri Lankan election results have focused on Beijing’s apprehensions of delayed or postponed economic projects, Xi’s message to the new President belied such worries.

In his message, Xi said China and Sri Lanka are “traditional friendly neighbors”, and relations between the two countries have “withstood the test of time since the establishment of diplomatic ties”.

“Attaching great importance to the development of relations with Sri Lanka, I am willing to make concerted efforts with the Sri Lankan side to keep lifting the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership to higher levels,” Xi said.

During a visit in September, the Chinese President launched construction of the $1.4 billion Colombo Port City, Sri Lanka’s largest single foreign investment.

TBP and Agencies