China will provide 30 million yuan (4.57 million U.S. dollars) worth of emergency humanitarian assistance to Japan to support the disaster relief there, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Monday.
The Chinese government has started its outbound humanitarian emergency relief operations for the quake and tsunami-hit areas in Japan and the first batch of relief materials, including blankets, tents and emergency lights, will be transported to Japan from Shanghai, MOC said in a brief statement on its website.
The first batch of relief materials will leave Shanghai for Tokyo at 4:30 p.m. on a cargo plane, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The aviation regulator said a chartered China Eastern Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft will carry 100 tonnes of materials worth 10 million yuan to the quake-hit country, including 900 cotton tents, 2,000 blankets, and 200 emergency lights.
A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit Japan last Friday, causing widespread destruction and leaving more than 1,000 people dead and thousands missing.
China sent a 15-member international rescue team on Sunday to help Japan with search and rescue operations.
