China has donated $16 million to the World Food Program (WFP) to support its famine-relief operations in Somalia, said a WFP press release on August 21.

It is China's largest single donation to WFP. China's total donations to WFP this year have totaled $20 million.

WFP said the donation would be directly delivered to its food aid program in Somalia, where about 1.5 million people are now receiving emergency rations of food.

WFP Deputy Executive Director Amir Mahmoud Abdulla said in the statement that China has emerged as an important donor for WFP programs around the world.