CIDCA receives interview on China's latest flood relief assistance to Pakistan

1. Pakistan is suffering from floods disaster, and the Chinese government provided emergency relief materials immediately and continued to provide assistance. Please introduce the update on the progress.

China and Pakistan are ironclad brothers who always stand together in the most trying of times. After the floods in Pakistan, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang sent condolences to the Pakistani president and prime minister respectively, and State Councilor Wang Yi also sent a message to the Pakistani foreign minister. The Chinese government immediately announced 100 million RMB worth of emergency humanitarian assistance, including 25,000 tents and other disaster relief materials urgently needed by Pakistan. The 3,000 tents delivered by the Air Force are one of the first aid materials Pakistan received. Taking into account the huge losses and actual needs caused by the flood, the Chinese government has provided an additional 300 million RMB emergency aid on top of the 100 million RMB emergency material assistance to support Pakistan's disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction. In conclusion, the total amount of China's aid to Pakistan is 400 million RMB, ranking first in the world.

Since September 7, China has arranged flights to deliver supplies every day. As of the 25th, 13,000 tents, 10,000 blankets and 1,000 boxes of hardtack have been delivered by air. Other materials, such as 12,000 tents and 3,300 water purifiers, have been shipped by sea in three batches. All will arrive in Karachi in mid-October. In addition to the above-mentioned government assistance, the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) coordinated different organizations to support, such as: the Red Cross of China has provided emergency cash assistance of 300,000 US dollars to the Pakistan Red Crescent; Chinese enterprises in Pakistan donated 15 million rupees; the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region donated 1 million yuan in material support, to its bordering northern region of Pakistan; Tianjin municipality donated 10 million RMB, etc..

After the arrival of the Chinese relief supplies, the Pakistani people gathered at the distribution point to welcome the supplies. They sincerely thank China and the Chinese people for helping Pakistan in every critical situation in time. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that China's continuous assistance to Pakistan has once again demonstrated the precious all-weather strategic partnership of cooperation between two countries. Pakistan will never forget China's selfless assistance in disaster relief and reconstruction. 

2. This emergency aid has achieved remarkable results and has been praised by the Pakistani government and people. The CIDCA has played an important role. Could you introduce the specific work undertaken by CIDCA?

CIDCA has fully played a coordinating role in this emergency assistance, which can be summed up in four characteristics: promptness, continuity, smoothness and precision.

The first is promptness. After the flood, CIDCA immediately activated the emergency humanitarian assistance mechanism, coordinating the joint efforts of relevant Chinese departments. The Ministry of Emergency Management urgently dispatched 3,000 reserved tents, and the Chinese Air Force delivered the first batch of tents to Karachi on August 30; the China Meteorological Administration provided real-time weather forecasts in time; the Ministry of Commerce coordinated enterprises to organize emergency procurement of materials. All the relief materials are fully prepared and transported within one month. CIDCA urgently coordinated with the civil aviation department to increase transportation capacity to ensure that the urgently needed 13,000 tents and other materials have all arrived in Pakistan on September 25, and all follow-up materials will arrive in Pakistan in mid-October by sea.

The second is continuity. From the arrival of the first batch on August 30 to the delivery of all materials in mid-October, the assistance lasted for one month. For air transport, an aircraft has been arranged to transport materials per day from September 7, and an additional flight is added from 22 to 24. In a total, 22 sorties have been flown; for maritime transportation, it is shipped in 3 batches on September 14, 17, and 24, with a total of 90 containers; for land transportation, CIDCA raised 200 tons of urgently needed onions in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and delivered via the Kara-Koram Highway within a week.

The third is smoothness. As China's foreign assistance coordinating department, CIDCA has given full play to its leading role, connecting from local provincial governments to Chinese embassies and consulates abroad. On September 3, Chairman Luo Zhaohui of CIDCA met with the Pakistani ambassador online and proposed that a joint liaison group could be set up to maintain round the clock communication, report information in a timely manner, and solve problems. The liaison mechanism is running smoothly, with the active support of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the China Meteorological Administration and other Chinese departments, and the Pakistani embassy in China has cooperated strongly with the domestic competent authorities of Pakistan to ensure the smooth implementation of the emergency relief.

The fourth is precision. After the flood, CIDCA cooperated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the China Meteorological Administration, the military, local and Chinese embassy in Pakistan and the Pakistan embassy in China to communicate closely to meet the urgent needs of Pakistan. Combined with the materials needed by Pakistan, CIDCA has formulated a multi-modal transportation plan by sea, land and air. In response to Pakistan’s urgent need for 200 tons of onions and 10 tons of tomatoes, CIDCA urgently coordinated and implemented enterprises to assemble onions in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and shipped them by land from the Khunjerab Port via the Kara-Koram Highway. Since the tomato varieties produced in Xinjiang Autonomous Region are easy to rot, which makes storage and long-distance transportation difficult, CIDCA has contacted the relevant local governments and enterprises, assembled the tomatoes from Yunnan province, and delivered them to the disaster-stricken areas by air. 

3. Now the flood disaster in Pakistan has eased, and the work of the Pakistani government is gradually turning to post-disaster reconstruction. What are the next steps for CIDCA in assistance?

On September 16, President Xi Jinping attended the 22nd SCO summit, and when meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz, he said that China and Pakistan adjoin mountains and rivers, and share linked destiny. Recently, Pakistan has suffered heavy losses due to severe floods, China sympathizes with this and is doing its best to help the Pakistani people to tide over the difficulties. CIDCA has been in close communication with Pakistan on post-disaster reconstruction, and is willing to do its utmost to assist Pakistan in post-disaster reconstruction. At present, the people's government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is actively considering setting up a medical panel to Pakistan to carry out medical rescue and guidance. The Ministry of Emergency Management has set up a panel to carry out work on disaster assessment, flood control and disaster mitigation, as well as post-disaster reconstruction and planning.

In addition, China also appeals to the international community to provide more help in response to the large amount of funds needed for Pakistan's post-disaster reconstruction, and communicates with relevant international organizations to consider using the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund to provide more support.

No matter how the international situation changes, the Chinese government and people will always stand firmly with the Pakistani government and people. It is believed that with the efforts of the Pakistani government and people, and with the help of China and the international community, Pakistan will surely overcome difficulties, and rebuild the homeland at an early date.