China delivers first batch of supplies

China has taken immediate action to do its best to help Tonga after the South Pacific island nation was hit by a volcanic eruption and tsunami, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

The local Chinese embassy has raised 280,000 yuan ($44,100) worth of emergency supplies, including drinking water and food, and donated them to the Tongan authorities on Wednesday, Zhao told a news conference in Beijing.

Tongan Deputy Prime Minister Poasi Tei, at the delivery ceremony on Wednesday, called the supplies from China the first batch that his government had received since Saturday's disaster.

The Red Cross Society of China has provided $100,000 of emergency humanitarian assistance in cash to Tonga.

China will continue to provide more assistance in cash and materials according to Tonga's need and the situation of disaster, and will try its best to overcome challenges posed by volcanic ash and deliver them as soon as possible, the spokesman added.