China to work with ASEAN in disaster relief

China will work more closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in fighting disasters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a daily press briefing. "As Typhoon Haiyan has wreaked great havoc on China, the Philippines and Vietnam, we've further realized natural disasters are common challenges facing countries in the region. China will work closely with ASEAN and strengthen cooperation in disaster prevention and reduction," Qin said. His comments came as Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, swept through the Philippines, Vietnam and China since last Friday. The Philippine authorities said death toll caused by the typhoon was 1,774 by Monday night, and the figure is rising, while 2,487 were injured and more than 660,000 people were displaced. Seven people were killed and another four were missing in China as of 10 a.m. Tuesday as the typhoon continued its progress through the south of the country, according to the National Disaster Reduction Commission. More than three million people in China's southern provinces of Hainan and Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been affected. The United Nations stated that the strongest typhoon recorded in modern history may affect more than 10 million people in the Philippines. Qin said disaster relief has become a major area of cooperation for China and ASEAN since the end of 2004 when a strong tsunami from the Indian Ocean hit Indonesia and some other ASEAN members. Qin reviewed how countries in the region have helped each other when natural disasters had happened over the last eight years, citing the example of an 8.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China in 2008. Qin said countries have increased disaster-relief cooperation in recent years, citing international meetings, seminars and drills.