China's Ebola aid displays growing responsibility

China's assistance in the fight against Ebola demonstrates the nation's shouldering of greater responsibility in global humanitarianism.

The country has provided financial and material support as well as sending medical teams to the most affected West African countries.

In April, China announced that it would provide Ebola relief worth 1 million yuan (about 163,000 US dollars) to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, and delivered the promised assistance in May.

About three months later, it delivered a second batch of emergency humanitarian aid to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The supplies, worth 30 million yuan in total, including medical protective clothes, disinfectants, thermo-detectors and medicines.

The third batch came following President Xi Jinping's announcement on Sept. 18 of an aid package worth 200 million yuan for West African countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

In addition, Xi also announced that China would provide the World Health Organization with 2 million U.S. dollars in cash and give the African Union the same amount.

Chinese medical workers are also making their contribution on West African soil.

Last week, a team of 30 doctors and 29 laboratory technicians from China were dispatched to work at the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital to help Sierra Leone improve lab testing.

China had already sent 115 medical experts to help West Africa cope with the outbreak.

Also last week, China announced that it had produced portable kits to help with Ebola virus testing.

The kits, which use a diagnostic method based on viral RNA detection, are expected to be of significant help in the prevention and control of the disease both in West African countries and China.

For China and Africa, friends in need are friends indeed.

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which is the biggest and most complex that the world has experienced since the first human outbreak occurred in 1976, has been a severe challenge for the international community.

Therefore, China's response displays its commitment to the global stability and development.

And its humanitarian assistance is not restricted to Africa. From 2010 to 2012, the Chinese government provided emergency humanitarian aid worth about 1.5 billion yuan to more than 30 countries.

China, which is itself a developing country, has been doing what it can to carry out multilateral and bilateral humanitarian aid worldwide.