NEW YORK: President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hailed China as a great support for the agency, voicing confidence that China will play a more important role in helping facilitate humanitarian efforts worldwide.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing 77th session of the UN General Assembly, ICRC President Peter Maurer on Friday said, “China has been a great support to ICRC’s vision that such important member of the the P5 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States) has consistently supported the Geneva Conventions and humanitarian work.”

The world’s second largest economy has became “more proactive” in support of international humanitarian laws, said Maurer.

“Through Chinese engagements worldwide, I think there was more conscious recognition that international humanitarian law and humanitarian action is a contribution to stability which will allow for better development over time. And I have been very comforted to see more proactive Chinese policy in international arena,” he said.

“China has very much supported some of the critical resolutions in the Security Council on critical infrastructure and rehabilitation of basic social services,” he added.

Maurer said he looks forward to more cooperation with China, which has strong infrastructure capacities and disaster relief experience.

“Our work increasingly is about bringing a basic social system, health, water and sanitation to function. Concretely, I think China has enormous capacity to help with the rehabilitation of infrastructure,” said Maurer.

 - Xinhua