China donates military bridges to Colombia for disaster relief

Colombia on Saturday received seven semi-permanent military bridges from China, a sign of good relations between the two countries, said senior officials.

The "Bailey bridges" worth three million U.S. dollars will be used by the Colombian military to connect isolated rural regions during natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

"Relations with China are increasing," said Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon at a donation ceremony at the Tolemaida military base.

"This nation has our admiration for their culture, for their capacity and it is of our interest to strengthen them (bilateral relations)," he said.

Chinese Ambassador to Colombia Wang Xiaoyuan, who delivered the bridges to Pinzon, said, "this type of bridges have been used historically to facilitate citizen connectivity when natural disasters occur or simply when they are isolated."

"We have had a frequent exchange in the military sector," said Wang. "This donation is one of the materialized actions of that good understanding (between the two countries)."

The donation is a sign of "good relationship between the two countries," as there has been deep bilateral cooperation in several areas, including the defense sector, Pinzon noted.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has agreed to give Colombia's military explosion-proof equipments worth five million dollars in the future to help detect improvised explosive devices, Pinzon added.