Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the opening of the Special ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Leaders' Meeting on Aftermath Quake and Tsunami Summit at the Jakarta Convention Centre in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, Jan. 6, 2005

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who was here attending the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami, said Thursday China is willing to make contributions to relief efforts and reconstruction in the tsunami-stricken area.

The Chinese people "are ready to lend a helping hand in this time of trouble," Wen said in a speech at the one-day gathering, which was attended by heads of state or government, ministers and senior officials from 26 nations and groups.

He made a seven-point proposal on relief efforts and reconstruction in the tsunami-hit countries, ranging from provision of emergency relief and revival of tourism to establishment of a disaster early-warning mechanism and better information exchange.

Wen called on countries and international organizations concerned to work together with coordinated steps and honor their commitments in good faith.

"We should readjust and beef up the aid packages in quick response to the needs of the national governments and people in the disaster areas and facilitate their speedy delivery, so as to guarantee the livelihood of the people, provide medical treatment and prevent the outbreak of epidemics," he said.

The Chinese government has provided lists of aid both in kind and in cash to the recipient countries and stands also ready to dispatch additional health experts, doctors, nurses, volunteers and other relief workers on short notice, Wen said.

He said the Chinese government will support cooperation between Chinese financial entities with the World Bank and other international financial institutions, and work with the afflicted countries and encourage participation by Chinese enterprises in the reconstruction and development in the disaster areas through such schemes as government-backed credit and interest-free or low-interest loans.

"We are willing to help with the repairing and rebuilding of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. We would like to give positive consideration to relieving and reducing the due governmental debts of the hardest-hit countries as a gesture to support reconstruction there," he added.

The Chinese government has decided to write off all due governmental debts of Sri Lanka, the premier stressed.

Given the fact that most afflicted areas are tourist resorts and tourism is a pillar industry in these countries, Wen proposed a study on concrete ways and means to revive tourism in the afflicted countries through 10+3 Tourism Ministers' Meeting and other mechanisms.

The Chinese government will encourage travel to these countries by Chinese tourists when conditions return to normal and work with the countries concerned in popularizing disaster prevention and preparedness knowledge among residents and tourists, he said.

"We also hope to see strong efforts by relevant international tourism organizations in this regard," Wen added.

On the establishment of a disaster early-warning mechanism, the Chinese premier said the latest catastrophe has highlighted the extreme importance of a tsunami early warning mechanism. China will invite experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and relevant international organizations to a China-ASEAN Workshop on Tsunami Warning scheduled for Jan. 25-26 in Beijing, the premier said.

The Chinese government is ready to help the neighboring countries, the afflicted countries in particular, to establish an earthquake monitoring and tsunami early-warning network with a view to exchanging and evaluating information in good time and forecasting and preventing earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters, Wen added.

He also expressed China's readiness to share relevant data and products of its Fengyun-2 satellite with the countries in the region, and to provide them with information and technical backup on weather forecasting, environment monitoring and disaster assessment.

"I propose that a 10+1 seminar on post-disaster disease prevention be held under the China-ASEAN Fund for Public Health," he said, adding China is willing to host an Asian conference on Disaster Reduction and looks forward to discussing with ASEAN and South Asian countries on the signing of bilateral or multilateral disaster reduction agreements and the cooperation for human resources development.

In addition, China is ready to finance experience sharing and training projects in disaster prevention, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, Wen said.

"We propose that disaster reduction, disaster prevention and disaster relief be listed as a key priority area for China-ASEAN cooperation, ASEAN plus China, Japan and ROK (South Korea) cooperation, as well as Asian Cooperation Dialogue in the interest of closer cooperation on disaster control at the regional level," he said.

"We highly appreciate the efforts made by the UN and the international community in assisting the afflicted countries, support the leadership and coordination by the UN and the World Health Organization in offering humanitarian assistance, and pay high tribute to the primary role played by ASEAN," he pointed out.

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 warning system.

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.