China will continue to provide Japan with necessary assistance in accordance with the latter's needs, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu here Tuesday.

"We believe the people of Japan can tide over the difficulty as this," said Jiang at a regular news briefing.

Jiang said the Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately launched an emergency response mechanism after a huge earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan Friday, triggering an array of disasters including a massive tsunami.

The ministry has been striving to collect information about Chinese nationals in the quake-stricken areas, and offered help to the Chinese citizens being affected in the huge quake, said Jiang.

Chinese embassy and consulates in Japan have dispatched several working groups to the disaster-stricken areas to visit the affected Chinese nationals and help with the evacuation.

So far, China has not yet received any casualty report of its citizens in Japan.

Four of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's six reactors have suffered serious problems in the wake of Friday's massive quake and tsunami in Japan, leading to leak of radioactive materials.

In answering an query about the necessity for global nuclear safety cooperation, Jiang said since the leak of radioactive materials at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant came to light, China's relevant environmental protection agencies have stepped up their monitoring and to keep a close watch on the leak.

The radioactive environment monitoring across China has shown nothing abnormal, said Jiang, who added that all operating nuclear power generating units across China had been running normally.

"Nuclear safety is the principal guarantee for a sustainable development of nuclear energy and technology," said the spokeswoman. "It is of special significance to guarantee nuclear safety as the result of the increased application of nuclear technology around the globe."

"Chinese government has always attached great importance to nuclear safety and upheld the principle of 'safety coming first' in building and operating nuclear power plants so as to ensure a safe, sound and orderly development in China's nuclear power industry, " said Jiang.

Jiang reiterated that members of the international community should enhance their cooperation in guaranteeing nuclear safety.

China has been acting fast in providing Japan with aids after Friday's devastating quake. Chinese government has offered sympathies and condolences to the Japanese government and the people of Japan.

China sent a 15-member international rescue team to Japan on Sunday, while local governments and China's chapter of the Red Cross have announced separate donations to aid the quake relief actions in Japan.

The ministry announced Monday that China will provide 30 million yuan worth of emergency humanitarian assistance to Japan following the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that have left thousands dead or missing.

A chartered plane carrying the first batch of relief goods China committed to Japan's earthquake rescue operations took off from Shanghai late Monday afternoon.

The first relief package sent to Japan is composed of 2,000 blankets, 900 cotton tents and 200 emergency lights, and valued at 7.2 million yuan ($1.1 million), said Yang Hongbin, a Shanghai-based official with China's Ministry of Commerce.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2011)