Albania has donated US$40,000 to China's quake-hit Sichuan Province to help with the relief efforts on the ground.

"In the wake of the devastating earthquake that has killed many people and caused a large scale of damage, the government of Albania has accorded a financial contribution of US$40,000 (to China) ," a press release from the press office of Prime Minister Sali Berisha said on Thursday.

The earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck Sichuan Province in southwestern China Monday. The earthquake has so far killed more than 19,500 people, and the death toll is expected to exceed 50,000.

Berisha sent on Tuesday night a message of condolences to his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao over the huge death toll and damages caused by a strong earthquake.

"I avail myself of this occasion to express to you, your government, the family members of the victims and the entire Chinese people my sympathy, solidarity and the most sincere condolences over the loss of their beloved," the message reads.

On the same day, Albanian parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli sent a letter to her Chinese counterpart Wu Bangguo, offering her condolences over the disaster.

"I, with a saddened heart, received the news that a catastrophic earthquake has hit China's Sichuan Province and has led to huge fatalities and material damages," Topalli wrote to Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China.

"Please allow me, on behalf of Albanian parliament and myself, to extend my deepest condolences to the families of the people killed or injured in the earthquake," Topalli said in the letter.

Economically, Albania is still one of the poorest countries in Europe, with an annual per capita income of less than US$3,000.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2008)