Red Cross facilitates flood relief

07/11/2002
China Daily: Ai Bing

The Red Cross Society of China announced yesterday that donations to China's flood-devastated regions from both home and abroad have reached 32 million yuan (US$3.8 million) by last Friday.

The society is working hard to distribute funds and disaster-relief materials to those regions as soon as possible, officials said.

Wang Lizhong, vice-director of the society, said all provinces that were not severely affected by floods have donated money or disaster-relief materials since the society released an urgent announcement in late June.

"More than 12 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in funds and materials have been delivered to some extremely hard-hit regions, and donations are still increasing as the campaign continues," Wang said.

Red Cross societies from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan also donated relief funds.

Statistics with the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed that more than 110 million people from 18 provinces and autonomous regions were affected by this year's flood. The direct economic losses have surpassed 26 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion).

Wang said disaster-relief efforts from the society were complementary efforts to large-scale government relief measures. He said feedback has shown that relief materials and funds have played a key role in helping people overcome immediate difficulties.

Richard Grove-Hills, head of the regional office of the International Red Cross Federation, said their Chinese colleagues are working very effectively in the donation-seeking process.