Beijing, Oct 24 (IANS): China will provide 500 million yuan (about $82 million) in aid to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and international organisations to fight the Ebola virus disease, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday.

"China will offer aid in cash and in kind, send more health experts and medical staff and help build a treatment centre in Liberia," Xi said while meeting with visiting President of Tanzania Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

Xi said China was willing to work with the international community to help the affected countries win the fight against Ebola at an early date, Xinhua reported.

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has continued to spread, threatening the lives of African people, their economic and social development as well as global public health, the president noted.

China knew how the affected countries suffered and has taken the lead to provide three rounds of assistance to them. "A friend in need is a friend in deed," Xi said.

Since the Ebola outbreak in February, China has delivered humanitarian aid, offering multiple batches of emergency assistance and dispatching nearly 200 experts and workers to the affected areas to help with prevention and control.

In August, China delivered aid worth 30 million yuan (about $5 million) to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

A month later, the Chinese government announced another consignment of cash, food and material aid and donated $2 million in cash to the World Health Organisation and the African Union.

China's mobile laboratory in Sierra Leone has tested more than 500 Ebola samples with 100 percent accuracy. Local health authorities said the data played an important role in assisting the government of Sierra Leone in handling the emergency.