Romania will donate relief goods worth some two million lei (about 860,000 U.S. dollars) to China, consisting of humanitarian aid and first need stuff from the state reserves, the Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.

The aid will be from the budget of official assistance for development, managed by the Foreign Ministry and the stuff will be sent by air close to the area in Sichuan province hit by a devastating earthquake on May 12, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry.

"Beyond the value in money and along with the reaction of some Romanian local authorities, of the Romanian press and the civil society, the assistance is a normal expression of the friendship and solidarity between the Romanian and the Chinese peoples," said the release.

The diplomatic offices of Romania in China lowered the flags at half mast during the three days of national mourning in China in mourning for the earthquake victims.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed the hope that the Chinese people will overcome the terrible tragedy as soon as possible.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2008)