China pledges 1 billion yuan aid for Myanmar quake victims

Beijing has promised 1 billion yuan (about $137 million) in emergency assistance to Myanmar, where a magnitude-7.7 earthquake on 28 March killed more than 3,600 people and left tens of thousands without shelter, China’s embassy said on Thursday.

The package will pay for food, medicines and prefabricated homes and fund medical, epidemic-control and disaster-assessment teams, according to a statement released during Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Nay Pyi Taw.

China has already deployed more than 30 specialised rescue units, including field-hospital staff, engineers and sniffer-dog handlers. Its main search-and-rescue contingent returned home on 9 April after completing operations in hard-hit Mandalay, the embassy added.

The Chinese Red Cross has contributed a further 1.5 million yuan (about $206,000), while Beijing has offered to help assess reconstruction costs and draw up rebuilding plans for towns flattened by the quake.

Myanmar’s 28 March tremor was the strongest in the country in nearly a century, toppling buildings and cutting off water and power for hundreds of kilometres. Official figures put the death toll at 3,645, though aid groups say the number of homeless could exceed 250,000.

Diplomats in Yangon say Beijing’s pledge is the largest single foreign contribution so far and reflects China’s growing role in regional disaster relief.

Neighbouring Thailand and India have each sent medical teams and air-lifted blankets and generators, but have yet to detail reconstruction funds.

Myanmar’s interim government has appealed for $800 million in international support, warning that monsoon rains due next month could compound the humanitarian crisis by flooding temporary camps.

China said it would “continue to stand with the Myanmar people” and was ready to dispatch additional teams if after-shocks or landslides hit the quake zone.

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