Chinese firms in Ethiopia mourn, solicit money for quake victims

ADDIS ABABA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies in Ethiopia on Wednesday solicited money for victims of the recent earthquake in northwest China's Qinghai province.

In line with China's national mourning day for the quake victims, officials and staffs of the Chinese companies observed a mourning session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, and contributed financial support worth 60,823 U.S. dollars.

At the occasion, Wei Hongtian, charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia, said the Chinese government has been launching tremendous rescue efforts. With the help of the Chinese companies here, the quake-affected area will soon return to normal, Wei said.

Zaf Gebre-Tsadik, executive secretary of the Sino-Ethiopia Associate (Africa) PLC, a Chinese-Ethiopian joint venture, attended the mourning event and donated money to support the quake victims.

"I am an old friend of the Chinese. I come here to express my sympathy and sorrow over the natural disaster that happened in China and to donate some money," she said.

She believed the Chinese people would soon recover from the disaster.

Wang Chenli, chief representative of China Gezhouba Group Company in Ethiopia, said he was deeply saddened by the deaths of many of his country fellows, and he was here to show his support for the quake-hit areas.

"Chinese people are resilient, and we won't be defeated by natural disaster. And we are here to offer a helping hand to our people and to reconstruct the affected areas," he said.

The 7.1-magnitude quake struck the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu of Qinghai Province on April 14, leaving 2,183 people dead, 84 missing, and 12,135 injured as of Wednesday.