Some foreign countries have extended condolences over China's losses sustained from a recent typhoon that hit several coastal provinces in southeast China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said yesterday.

 

The countries, which offered their condolences through messages or phone calls, included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Mali, Mauritius, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia, Russia, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Australia, the US, Micronesia, Antigua and Barbuda, and Peru, Liu said.

 

Chinese leaders, on behalf of the Chinese people, are thankful for the friendship the countries showed through their consolatory messages, Liu added.

 

Typhoon Saomai, the strongest to hit China in half a century, struck Cangnan County of Zhejiang Province on August 10. It left at least 441 dead, including 246 in Fujian Province, 193 in Zhejiang Province and two in Jiangxi Province.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2006)