Shenzhen Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau has launched a campaign seeking donations of daily necessities for poverty-stricken areas in Guizhou, a southwestern province.

In 1996, Shenzhen designated Guizhou as the province which it would give the most bedding and clothing donated by Shenzhen people. Since that year, an annual campaign has been conducted and large amounts of donated goods have been sent to the province.

"We will do something different from the previous years," said Liu Runhua, head of the bureau.

He said Shenzhen people could give food, home appliances and other articles this year as well as bedding and clothing.

Liu said most of the donated items would go to Guizhou to help the people get through the winter and some would go to the charity store which opened Tuesday. The store sells items at lower than market prices for people living below the poverty line. Proceeds from the store would go to charity.

According to a bureau document, people who want to support the campaign - which runs until Nov. 4 - can deliver their donations to the neighborhood committees of their housing estates or to the civil affairs bureau of the city's six districts. For inquiries, people can call the city's donation administration center at 2583-1639.

A bureau spokesperson surnamed Ma said foreigners had donated in past campaigns, citing expatriate workers from Wal-Mart.

From 1996 to the first half of this year, the city has donated nearly 400 million yuan (US$48 million) and 17 million items of clothing and bedding to Guizhou and other disaster areas in the country.

(Shenzhen Daily October 21, 2004)