China sent two chartered aircraft carrying 26 tonnes of new relief materials to Kyrgyzstan early Monday to help refugees who suffered shortages of supplies after violent ethnic clashes this month.

The two China Southern Airlines Boeing 757 cargo aircraft brought the materials to the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh from Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a spokesman with the carrier's Xinjiang Branch said.

The aid materials worth 3 million yuan ($440,000) include rice, oil, biscuits, black tea, milk powder, blankets, clothes, stationary and sanitary materials, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in a press release.

"China hopes the aid will help Kyrgyz authorities to resettle the refugees," Qin said.

China Southern Airlines, one of the country's leading carriers, has been heavily involved in the evacuation of Chinese nationals and transportation of relief supplies after clashes broke out between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in Osh in mid-June.

The clashes later spread to the region of Jalalabad, leaving 210 people dead and 2,100 injured.

Since June 15, China has sent charter planes to ship altogether 80 tonnes of relief supplies, worth 11 million yuan, to Kyrgyzstan and neighboring Uzbekistan which was flooded with Kyrgyz refugees after the clashes, according to China Southern Airlines.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2010)