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.

Nine-year-old school boy Liu Yanbing reads a text before a tent in earthquake disaster area in Sichuan Province on May 18.

"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)