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JUBA. – The Chinese government has donated $550 000 and office equipment worth $150 000 to a ceasefire monitoring body of South Sudan’s newly-formed unity government.

Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan, Ma Qiang, said on Friday the donations would boost the commitments made by President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar to implement a peace deal aimed at ending more than two years of civil war.

“I congratulate both the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO) for this important progress,” Ma said.

He added the grants were demonstration of the commitment of the Chinese government to supporting peace process in South Sudan.Machar, who had been leading his SPLM-IO rebels to fight the government, last Tuesday returned to Juba and was sworn in as the world’s youngest country’s vice president, which is part of the peace deal signed last August by the two sides under UN pressure.

The donations would go to the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), a body set up under the peace deal to monitor ceasefire violations.

CTSAMM chairperson, Maj-Gen Molla Hailemariam, said that with the grants, they were ready to step up efforts to restore peace, stability and security in the country.

“I am grateful for efficient, timely and unconditional contribution by China which enables us to address the urgent needs,” Hailemariam said.

In another development, newly-appointed ministers of the transitional government of national unity were sworn in on Friday.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war, which broke out in December 2013 following a falling out between Kiir and Machar. – Xinhua