On September 24, 2011, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi attended the UN ministerial meeting of donor countries on the Horn of Africa famine in the UN headquarters, New York.

Yang said that China pays great attention to the drought and famine which are the worst in the Horn of Africa over 60 years and shares sympathy with the disaster-hit countries and people. The Chinese government has announced twice within more than half a month to provide emergency food aid and food assistance in cash with a total worth of RMB443.2 million. It is the largest sum of foreign food aid provided by the Chinese government since the founding of New China and another vivid example of China-Africa sincere friendship and sharing of weal and woe. Currently, China is stepping up the implementation of the aid commitments. The first batch of food aid will arrive at the disaster area soon and the rest will be delivered thereafter.

China admires that the UN appealed to the international community for assistance immediately after famine hit the Horn of Africa and quickly carried out rescue operations in the affected area, he noted.

He pointed out that the drought reflects the vulnerability of food security in Africa. The international community should actively support the efforts of African countries to achieve food security and development, increase the intensity of non-agricultural development assistance and provide favorable external conditions for the development of African countries.

He said that China has been committed to helping African countries to strengthen their food security capacity building. China and African countries have conducted extensive cooperation in agriculture for many years. Taking agriculture as a key area of cooperation, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has launched a number of initiatives to support the agricultural development of Africa, which has made important contributions to promote food security in African countries. China also cooperates with Africa in infrastructure construction, technology exchange and transfer, human resource training and other areas through the bilateral channels and within the UN framework.

He finally stressed that China will continue to work with the international community to make greater contributions to promote food security and sustainable development of African countries.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chaired the meeting in which representatives of more than 60 countries and international organizations participated.