MANILA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China has donated 1 million yuan (around 144,000 U.S. dollars) to support communities affected by the eruption of Taal volcano, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said on Thursday.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian handed the check to Undersecretary Enrique Manalo of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines on Wednesday at the DFA headquarters in Manila.

A statement from the Chinese Embassy said Huang "expressed his deep sympathies to those Filipino friends affected by the recent volcano eruption of the Philippines."

"Huang said that the Chinese side looks forward to lending more strength to the disaster relief efforts on the Philippine side to overcome the difficulties and help the affected people restore their normal livelihood at an earliest date," the statement read.

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines also sent face masks, bags of rice and other relief goods to the victims after the eruption of the Taal volcano.