Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Finance said Monday it had allocated 2.5 billion yuan (357 million U.S. dollars) in temporary allowances to support quake victims.

    The ministry said the money would go to Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces and Chongqing Municipality.

    Victims who became homeless or who had lost their means of production or incomes would receive a 10-yuan allowance on a daily basis for three months. Orphans, elders who had lost their family and handicapped victims would have a monthly allowance of 600 yuan.

    By 2 p.m. Tuesday, the nation's finance departments at all levels had allocated 11.727 billion yuan to fund relief work in the quake-stricken regions.

    China's central bank and the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Monday ordered financial institutions to provide support, including extension of loan maturities, for relief and reconstruction in quake-ravaged regions.

    Also on Monday, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation announced a package of tax rebates for the hard-hit regions. Individual income taxes, property taxes and so forth will be reduced to help reconstruction.

China extends time to file, pay taxes in quake-hit areas

    BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) said Tuesday that tax payers in quake-hit localities could postpone their declarations.

    A powerful quake rocked Wenchuan County, 159 kilometers northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital city of Chengdu last Monday. The death toll in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake has risen to more than 40,000.

    The policy affects the hardest-hit jurisdictions of Sichuan, Chongqing, Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Qinghai and Hubei.  Full story