China to support ongoing electoral process in Guinea Bissau

China will provide support for the organization of Guinea Bissau's general elections scheduled for Nov. 24, the Chinese ambassador to Bissau Wang Hua has said. Without stating the exact amount that will be disbursed, the diplomat who was coming from a meeting with the chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Augusto Mendes, reaffirmed on Monday the "determination of the Chinese people to support Guinea Bissau's democratic and development process." He said his meeting with Mendes enabled him to understand the level of preparedness for the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections. Guinea Bissau's electoral commission has indicated that it will require 5.5 million euros (7.35 million U.S. dollars) to organize the forthcoming elections. However, the organ in charge of registering voters for the next elections has indicated that it will require at least 14 million dollars to carry out its work. Until now, the traditional partners who normally support Guinea Bissau's electoral process, especially the European Union, the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have not released funds for the elections. Speaking in June this year, the UN special representative Jose Ramos Horta announced that the organization would disburse the remaining 3 million euros which was supposed to have been spent on the aborted 2012 presidential elections.