Special Report: China's war on snow havoc

    BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Disaster-relief materials valuing about 820,000 U.S. dollars, provided by the defense department of the United States of America for freezing-disaster affected areas of China, arrived in Shanghai Friday.

    Qian Lihua, head of the foreign affairs office of China's National Defense Ministry, expressed appreciations of the Chinese side for the U.S. emergency humanitarian assistance, which includes 6,000 winter coats, 1,657 blankets and 87,552 military food ration packs.

    He said these materials will help people in the disaster-stricken areas and promote the friendship between the two peoples and the two armed forces.

    The Chinese armed forces will continue to strengthen substantial cooperation with the U.S. side in humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief, and advance the sound and steady development of military relations between the two sides, said Qian.

    The foreign affairs office of China's National Defense Ministry has transferred the materials to Shanghai's civil affairs department, which will dispatch the materials to affected areas, according to the office.

    The snow havoc, the worst in five decades, and even in a century in a few areas, caused deaths, structural collapses, blackouts, accidents, transport problems and livestock and crop losses in 19 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

    It has killed more than 80 people, toppled 300,000 homes, damaged 90 million hectares of crops and resulted in direct economic losses of about 80 billion yuan, according to the Red Cross Society of China.