BEST WISHES: Masood Khan (right), Pakistani Ambassador to China, presents a check for 200,000 yuan ($29,300) to Nyima Rinzen, principal of Yushu County Orphans' School, at a ceremony at the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing on June 1 (COURTESY OF THE PAKISTANI EMBASSY IN BEIJING)

On June 1, Masood Khan, Pakistani Ambassador to China, presented a check for 200,000 yuan ($29,300) to Nyima Rinzen, principal of quake-hit Yushu County Orphans' School, to help pay for the school's reconstruction. Khan presented the check at a ceremony held at the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing.

The donation came through a Meena Bazaar fundraiser organized at the Pakistani Embassy on May 15 to aid victims of the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province, on April 14.

Khan reiterated his heartfelt condolences on the devastation caused by the earthquake. "The Chinese nation has always stood by their Pakistani brethren," Khan said. "That is why on this sad happening the Embassy felt it its moral obligation to extend help to their brothers and sisters in their hour of distress."

Rinzen expressed his gratitude to the leadership of Pakistan for issuing condolence messages immediately after the earthquake and also to the embassy for organizing the fundraiser event.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have each paid visits to the school, which was the first to resume classes after the quake, Rinzen said.

A total of 2,698 people have been confirmed dead, with 270 still missing in the quake as of June 1, according to Xinhua News Agency.