Chinese reach out and donate to quake-hit region
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People from different circles, government, non-governmental organizations and Taiwan compatriots are all generously donating to help the people of Yushu recover after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the prefecture in northwest Qinghai Province early Wednesday morning.
The Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) has received 13.64 million yuan in donations and another 19.06 million yuan of promised funds as of Friday evening.
Secretary-general of the CRCF Wang Rupeng said that some of the donations would be used to buy emergency rescue materials in the quake zone and the donations would be used mainly for reconstruction work in Yushu.
According to Wang, one of the main problems that hinders the relief work in the quake zone on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is lack of transport capacity.
He suggested because of this material donations were not preferable and non-professional rescuers should not go to the quake zone.
The All-China Women's Federation has collected one million yuan in donations after the quake and sent three-million-yuan-worth of food, medicines and daily use articles to the quake zone.
The Chinese government at all levels has played a key role both in the relief and donation work after the devastating quake. The Education Ministry has collected and donated 10 million yuan to Yushu mainly for reconstruction projects of collapsed school buildings.
Ministry of Justice has given one million yuan to the justice department of Qinghai Province to help local officials conduct relief work.
The General Administration of Press and Publication has ordered eight state-run publishing houses to donate three million yuan in relief funds. And nearly 200,000 quake-relief manuals written in Tibetan and Chinese which were collected by those publishing houses will be transported to the quake zone.
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs is responsible for receiving donations from provincial-level Party committees and governments.
Party committees and governments in 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have donated more than 169.5 million yuan as of Friday afternoon.
The devastating quake has also drawn great concern from Chinese people living in Taiwan.
Sources with the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said besides sympathy relayed by the Kuomintang's Honorary Chairman Lien Chan and the People First Party Chairman James Soong, Taiwan business firms had promised to donate more than 17 million yuan in funds and materials to the quake zone.
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