Governments and charities cling together after "devastating" blizzards

The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) announced in February that it had received more than 60 million yuan ($8.35 million) in donations to help the worst-hit areas around China, including Guangdong.
Of this figure, some 28 million yuan was received in local branches around the country. These donations have now been sent to each of the hazard zones affected by the short but freakishly cold Chinese winter.
Even now, many charity events are still being carried out, including traditional Chinese opera performances, local fundraising get-togethers, and special balls. The RCSC, however, is still calling on the public to donate cash and necessary items for those in the snow-hit areas of east and south China, as well as remote poverty-stricken villages. In particular, they still urgently need food, medicine, quilts, winter coats and other supplies. To this end, cash donations are being greatly encouraged because of the limited transportation available.
So far, the RCSC has provided many thousands of cotton-padded tents and more than 86,300 coats and quilts to relief work in the worst-hit areas. By February17, nearly 1.45 billion yuan ($201.3 million) in cash and supplies had been donated, the Ministry of Civil Affairs recently anounced.
Of that total, some 86 million yuan was collected by the Ministry itself, while 227 million yuan was received by the RCSC and 45 million yuan from the China Charity Federation.
The seven worst-hit were: Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan Provinces and Guangxi Autonomous Region. It is believed that Chinese people have donated a combined 1.16 billion yuan ($155 million) to support efforts in all of these areas, according to the Ministry.
China's eastern, central and southern regions suffered prolonged snow and rain storms from mid-January to mid-Febraury, leaving at least 107 people dead and 100 million people affected in the 19 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
About 1.5 million people have been evacuated over the past five weeks and more than 1.9 million travelers, including the now infamous crowds at Guangzhou's railway station, were stranded. Extreme blizzards also led to the destruction of more than private 350,000 homes.
The New Year snowstorms, the worst in over 50 years, caused building collapses, huge blackouts, countless accidents, as well as enormous livestock and crop losses in the country's eastern, central and southern regions. The winter disaster also caused direct economic losses of about 111 billion yuan ($15.4 billion), Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju stated in late February.
Premier Wen Jiabao last month chaired an executive meeting of the State Council and spoke of the "arduous tasks" for the
regions worst affected by the weather.
"Some major power grids have yet to be repaired. The straining of coal supplies for electricity plants has not been fundamentally resolved," Wen said at the meeting.
The premier urged local governments to put restoring power supply as their top priority.
"We have set a target to restore all power systems before March 20," a source from the State Grid Corporation of China told China Daily newspaper. "Currently, more than 96 percent of our users have had their power supply restored."
President Hu Jintao also ordered the country's military forces to continue their heroic efforts in helping reconstruction work in the harsh blizzard zones.
The disaster, however, has strained the insurance industry, which has so far paid out a reportedly 1 billion yuan on claims "stemming from the severe weather in south and central China", the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said in February. More than 855 million yuan went on property claims, while 56 million yuan went on health and life policies.
China Southern Power Grid, which provides power to Guangdong, said about 96 percent of its clients had already had their power restored last month, following repair work.

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Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Dong Si Nan Branch, Beijing.
Account No: 02000010090144132-52
Account Name: The Red Cross Society of China

IT'S A ZOO OUT THERE!

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YOUR 60-SECOND LOCAL NEWS WRAP

PROVINCE FACES POWER LOSS
Guangzhou still faces an electric load shortfall of 1 million kilowatts due to the bad weather and post-festival demand by local companies. Lines are still damaged between Hunan and Guizhou Provinces, but a spokesman of the provincial power supply bureau said priority is being given to "restoring residential customers". Large industries were required to cut output by 30 percent, according to the plan.

GUANGZHOU BEEFS UP SECURITY
Efforts are underway to make the city safer in 2008, the GZ mayor said in February. In his government report, Zhang Guangning said citizen safety is his top priority. "We will keep iron-handed against gang-related crimes, as well as social evils such as prostitution, gambling and drug addiction," he said. Funding will be increased, as will CCTV surveillance. Guangzhou will spend 4.48 billion yuan ($624 million) on public security, roughly 18 percent of its budget. The city, which many view as a hotbed of vice and crime, installed 100,000 video cameras last year.

50,000 PARKING SPACES FOR GZ
Five large "metro station car parks" will be built this year in Guangzhou, increasing the city's parking capacity by 50,000. Wang Dong, director of the Guangzhou Urban Planning Bureau, said the local government will spend 1 billion yuan ($140 million) on the scheme.
"These new spaces will make it easier for car owners to use the public transport system, so they don't have to park downtown," Wang said. The project will include an underground car park at the Tianhe Sports Center. Others will go up at Guangzhou East Station and the city's International Convention and Exhibition Center. Official figures state the city now has at least a million cars on its roads, with 600 new cars licensed daily.

CITY PROPERTY PRICES DROP 30%
Studies by the Guangzhou Land Resources and Property Management Bureau point to a severe drop in property prices, mainly casued poor bulk selling. Research found prices are down from 2007 by almost 30%. Some property analysts also predict the market will be "far less hot" than last year, when prices reached their highest in history.