BEIJING, July 15, 2008 -- On behalf of the Lebanese government, Lebanese Ambassador to China Sleiman Rassi donated 75,000 U.S. dollars on Tuesday to China's quake-hit area, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

According to the ministry, domestic and foreign donations had approached 57.5 billion yuan in cash and goods by Tuesday noon. Of that, 21 billion yuan had been forwarded to quake-hit areas.

A powerful earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale jolted China's southwestern Sichuan province and neighboring regions on May 12.

The death toll from the quake is close to 70,000, while nearly 20,000 people are reported missing.