BEIJING: From providing emergency relief and medical assistance in regions affected by disasters or conflicts to promoting international dialogue on humanitarian principles, the Red Cross Society of China has deepened global cooperation in the past five years and is planning to further upgrade its foreign aid mechanism and engage in international emergency rescue action.
In a letter sent to the 12th general congress of the RCSC, which opened on Wednesday in Beijing, President Xi Jinping called on the organization to focus on high-quality development and further improve its capability in providing humanitarian services.
Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the RCSC serves as a bridge and a bond connecting the Party and the government with the people in the humanitarian field.
He called on the organization to deepen reform and innovation, strengthen credibility, improve humanitarian service capabilities, and actively participate in and support international humanitarian cause to help bolster the nation’s modernization drive and contribute to promoting human peace and progress.
Xi emphasized that Party committees and governments at various levels should strengthen leadership and support for Red Cross work to foster a better environment for Red Cross organizations to fulfill their obligations.
The Red Cross Society of China, which was established in 1904, currently has 17 million members and 2.93 million volunteers.
Over the past five years, the organization has offered emergency humanitarian assistance to 16 Asian countries, 10 European nations, 13 African countries and five countries in the Americas and Oceania to help them fight epidemics, according to a report delivered to the general congress, which will conclude on Thursday. The RCSC has also sent medical experts to battle epidemics in Iran, Iraq and Italy, and donated 1.6 million vaccine doses to 12 countries, including Lebanon, Ethiopia and Cambodia.
It has delivered emergency humanitarian assistance worth $10.7 million to 54 countries and sent material aid to regions affected by the 2023 Turkiye-Syria earthquake, the Ukraine crisis and other major disasters or conflicts. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
