BEIJING, Oct 30: A Chinese fact-finding team will reach Pakistan on Monday to assess reconstruction and rehabilitation requirements in the earthquake-affected areas and extend further assistance.

The Chinese mission will be led by deputy minister of the commerce ministry. “China, being a close friend of Pakistan, wishes to actively participate in the humanitarian work in the quake-affected areas,” said a senior official of the China Earthquake Administration’s department of international cooperation.

The official told APP that China would also help Pakistan set up a modern seismic monitoring centre and provide it with the latest equipment.

“We will also provide technical support for setting up a national rescue and disaster management authority to cope with such calamities,” he added.

On Oct 27, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged that his country would provide Pakistan with further relief aid worth $13.8 million after a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz in Moscow.

China also donated $500,000 to Pakistan at the United Nations donors’ conference in Geneva. This amount plus the $6.2-million aid which China had donated in the first week after the devastating earthquake, has taken China’s relief assistance to Pakistan to $20.5 million.

This total excludes the aid provided by the Chinese military and the Red Cross Society.

According to sources, China is prepared to provide further relief assistance. Besides the blankets and tents badly needed in the earthquake-affected areas, China has sent a second dispatch of rescue workers, mainly surgeons and nurses to set up field hospitals in those areas.

“The Chinese side made a prompt decision to provide relief aid at the earliest time immediately after the earthquake,” said Pakistan Ambassador Salman Bashir. “This shows the deep feelings and emotions of the Chinese people towards their Pakistani brothers and sisters at this difficult time,” he added.—APP