China will take an active part in the relief campaign led by the UN, other international organizations, and ASEAN, he added.

    Responding to the appeal of the UN, the Chinese government has decided to provide, on the basis of its existing pledges, additional 20 million US dollars for multilateral relief and reconstruction efforts, Wen said.

    In his speech, Wen also said China is a country that is frequently stricken by natural disasters. "We know how much pain they can bring and what genuine friendship means in times of tribulations."

    After the disaster struck, the Chinese government has launched its largest foreign relief operations to date. Apart from the initial contribution of 21.63 million yuan (about 2.6 million dollars), the Chinese government has pledged an additional 500 million yuan (about 60.5 million dollars) for the stricken countries, he said.

    Chinese medical and relief teams are already on the ground, up and running. "We have sent working groups on disaster study and assessment to the stricken countries and will provide additional aid of various kinds in keeping with their actual needs," Wen added.

    During the meeting, other leaders also called for global response to the disaster, more relief efforts and a future warningsystem.

    The massive earthquake and the tsunamis that followed on Dec. 26, 2004 have claimed the lives of over 145,000 people in Asia and Africa. Enditem