South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday offered condolences to China's quake victims, expressing his full confidence in the Chinese authorities in handling the earthquake which had killed about 600 people in China's Qinghai Province.

"It is unfortunate that natural disasters have become a common phenomenon around the world and continue to gravely afflict humanity at a time when people experience a myriad of development challenges," Zuma said in a statement to the South African Press Association.

"I have all the confidence that the Chinese authorities will deploy all the necessary efforts to save more lives in this disaster and bring the much needed relief to the affected communities," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2010)