China sent Monday morning disaster relief materials to Ulan Bator to help Mongolia combat extreme cold weather, said a statement from the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense.

The 500 tonnes of rice and 180 tonnes of other relief items, including generators, quilts and food, were carried by six IIyushin IL-76 air freighters and trains, said the statement.

Mongolia is experiencing extreme cold weather and heavy snow mainly in the southern province of Dundgobi, which has seriously disrupted the lives of herders and killed numerous livestock.

Due to a drastic drop in temperatures from late 2009 to early this year, 80 percent of Mongolia's territory was covered with snow 20 centimeters to 90 centimeters deep.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2010)