New Zealand is contributing 400,000 NZ dollars (US$280,000) to humanitarian relief for victims of the earthquake that hit Qinghai Province in China, Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced on Tuesday.

Over 2,000 people were dead, nearly 12,000 are injured, and tens of thousands have been left homeless by the quake.

"China has well-established disaster response systems, and launched a prompt relief operation to help survivors in Qinghai, which is a remote and mountainous region. As a close friend and partner, New Zealand wants to support efforts to provide emergency shelter and to ensure medicine and food supplies reach those in need," McCully said in a statement.

The New Zealand funding will go to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to support the work of China Red Cross.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2010)