China called for the international community to offer tents among other relief donations to survivors in quake-hit Sichuan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Monday.

"China would like the international community to give priority to tents when providing relief materials," Qin said in response to a question.

Citing information from China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, Qin said a huge number of tents are required to shelter victims whose houses collapsed in the quakes, especially as the quake-hit southwestern China is in the rainy season now.

Qin again thanked the international community for their active aid efforts since the May 12 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)