On the morning of May 23, 2008, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi received, in Beijing, a listing of 22,260 tents donated by the Pakistani government for the victims in the earthquake-hit areas.

Charge d'Affaires Abdul Sanik Khan of the Pakistan Embassy to China said: Pakistan and China are all-weather friends. Every single Pakistanis is deeply concerned of the earthquake disaster in China. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani have already sent letters of condolences to China and visited the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to offer their condolences. Pakistan has airlifted disaster relief aid in two batches to China. The international medical rescue team of Pakistan will soon arrive in the disaster-hit zone in Gangsu. Sanik emphasized: The Pakistani people will always stand by the Chinese people at the time of calamity. The Pakistani government and people are ready to offer any form of aid to our Chinese friends without any reservation.

Wang extended the most sincere thanks for the aid offered by the Pakistani government and people. He said: There is an old saying in China, "A friend in need is a friend indeed." President Musharraf and Prime Minister Gilani expressed their condolences to the Chinese leaders and visited the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to offer their condolences immediately after the earthquake. The people from all walks of life in Pakistan including diplomats from the Pakistani Embassy in China and students from the embassy school contributed funds generously to the disaster-stricken areas. Having heard that China is in urgent need of tents, the Pakistani side donated all of their available tents to China. We not only received the heavy tents from Pakistan, but also felt the deep affection from the 160 million Pakistani people. China and Pakistan are real friends in need. The friendship is mutual. I assure the Pakistani people that once Pakistan is in need of help, the Chinese people will always be ready to stand by the Pakistani people.

While accepting the interview from journalists attending the ceremony, Wang said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs worried about what the people in the disaster areas worried about and was striving to address the needs of the disaster-affected people. The Ministry was collecting tents from all over the world. The Chinese diplomatic missions abroad were all mobilized. Within one week's time, the Ministry had collected nearly 180,000 tents, which were being transported to the places in need in the disaster-stricken areas.