The UN's Chinese staff members made a first donation of over US$30,000 on Friday to the victims in China's earthquake-stricken regions.

The contribution, largely in the form of personal checks, was presented by Xie Jiahui, president of the UN China Book Club, to China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya at the residence of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations.

The Chinese mission was entrusted to transfer the fund to the Red Cross Society of China to support quake relief efforts.

In his remarks, Wang spoke highly of the Chinese employees at the UN, saying the contribution showed their care and love for the victims affected by the devastating earthquake that struck China's southwestern Sichuan Province on Monday.

Xie told Xinhua that the sum was raised in 36 hours from more than 100 Chinese staff members who had volunteered to support the quake victims shortly after hearing the news of the deadly disaster, and that the Chinese Book Club only played the role of a coordinator in the process.

"This is only the first batch of donations from the Chinese employees working at the UN Headquarters," Xie said, adding that more are still expected to come in short time and that the club will continue to help collect the contributions.

He said the club is also planning a charity bazaar at the UN Headquarters to raise more donations and that an application has already been sent to the UN Staff Union, the club's superior body.

The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province rose to 22,069 nationwide as of 2:00 PM (0600 GMT) Friday, while the rescue headquarters feared the ultimate figure might top 50,000.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2008)