China donated 20,000 U.S. dollars to the Albanian Red Cross on Friday to help families affected by the flood in December in its northern area of Shkoder.

Along with other foreign aid, China’s donation will be used by the Red Cross to help 2,000 families with a standard month-long food package, a hygiene kit and four blankets.

“We hope that this sum will be useful,” Chinese Ambassador to Albania Wang Junling said in a handover ceremony here, adding that “it is true that the area was deeply affected by the flood and we hope the life there will be back to normal.”

When the same area was flooded in January this year, the Chinese Red Cross donated 30,000 dollars to Albania to support relief work in the region and extend a helping hand to the victims.

In December, the Shkoder Lake water flooded 40 percent of the town, forcing more than 15,000 people to fled their homes. Some 14,000 hectares of farmland were flooded due to heavy rains.

December 24, 2010
XINHUA

• A Permanent Economic Emergency