The
China
Red Cross Society (CRCS) collected 18.31 million yuan (US$2
million) in cash, and 9.8 million yuan (US$1.15 million) of
disaster-relief materials by Tuesday.
CRCS vice-president Wang Lizhong announced the figures Wednesday at
a press conference on flood-relief work. After the announcement,
the CRCS got additional donations worth over 4 million yuan
(US$483,115) from several enterprises.
On
June 19, CRCS officially appealed to the international community
through the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for donations to help
victims of natural disasters.
By
July 5, donations from other countries totaled 8.5 million yuan
(US$1 million), which was used to purchase 4,500 tons of food
supplies for 100,000 people, 2,000 tents, and 20,000 quilts. The
donation will also be used to provide one million people with
medicines.
The CRCS has also received donations from the US embassy to China
and the US Red Cross Society, as well as Red Cross organizations in
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special
Administrative Region and Taiwan Province.
Since June, 19 provinces and regions in China have suffered from
various natural disasters. Statistics from the Ministry of Civil
Affairs show that by June 26, a total of 110 million Chinese people
were affected by flooding, in which 596 died. Direct economic
losses totaled 26 billion yuan (US$3 billion).
(
July 11, 2002)