Cote d'Ivoire thanks China for Ebola aid

Cote d'Ivoire thanked China for its aid in fighting the Ebola virus, which has protected the country from being hit by the disease, Cote d'Ivoire's Foreign Minister Charles Koffi Diby said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Diby expressed gratitude for China's aid in cash and in kind to Western African countries, including Cote d'Ivoire, and said China's assistance has greatly strengthened the countries' capacity to fight the disease and lifted African people's confidence in winning the battle against the virus.

Diby said China's sincere, rapid and effective assistance is an important reason that his country has yet to be hit by Ebola.

Wang said China knows how African people have suffered and that the country will lend a hand.

"China remains a developing country but has done its best," said Wang.

Since the Ebola outbreak began in February, China has delivered humanitarian aid swiftly, offering multiple rounds of emergency assistance, and has dispatched nearly 200 experts and workers to the affected areas to help with prevention and control. China is planning to send more medical staff to the continent.

In August, China delivered aid worth about $5 million to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. A month later, the government announced another round of cash, food and material aid and donated $2 million  in cash to the World Health Organization and the African Union. In October, China announced it would provide about $82 million in aid to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and international organizations to fight Ebola.

China's mobile laboratory in Sierra Leone has tested more than 500 Ebola samples with 100 percent accuracy. Local health authorities said the data played an important role in assisting the government of Sierra Leone in handling the emergency.