Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    A much stronger economy

    After the Wenchuan quake, a rich couple who are survivors of the 1976 earthquake, won plaudits from ordinary Chinese for their generosity in making charitable donation for Wenchuan quake victims.

    Zhang Xiangqing, in his late 30s, and his wife surprised many Chinese by donating a total of 100 million yuan for quake relief and reconstruction work.

    The Zhangs, who founded and own the Tianjin Rockcheck Steel Group Co., Ltd., said they would like to help people in quake-hit zones to rebuild their homes and "earthquake-proof schools".

    The couple is just a typical example of how ordinary Chinese, including a lot of newly-wealthy people and celebrities who became millionaires or even billionaires in recent years, are taking on unprecedented philanthropic activities to help quake relief and the ensuing reconstruction.

    By Tuesday noon, donations for Sichuan earthquake relief work had reached 13.925 billion yuan (2.01 billion U.S. dollars) with 12.516 billion yuan in cash and 1.408 billion yuan in goods.

    Governmental officials had said that as relief work was drawing to an end, these donations will be used for reconstruction.

    Such generous donations for a devastating disaster were unprecedented in China's history in terms of the total figure and the broad participation of the public.

    Besides making charitable donations, there were other means to extend help.

    Chen Guangbiao, chief executive of conglomerate Jiangsu Huangpu Investment who has been active in philanthropy, had brought 120 drivers and 60 digging machines from eastern China all the way to Sichuan to assist relief and road reconstruction there.

    China Life Insurance (Group) Co., the nation's largest life insurer, which donated 16 million yuan in cash for quake relief, announced on May 14 that the company would pay all the living costs of those orphaned in the quake until they reached the age of18.

    Some ordinary Chinese took advantage of soaring private car ownership and drove their vehicles from across the country to the quake-hit zones to give a helping hand.

    All these were made possible partly because the Chinese economy, now the world's fourth largest, and living standards of Chinese people have risen remarkably in the last 30 years of reform and opening up.

    Zhuang, of the ADB, said a much stronger Chinese economy in comparison with that of 1976 has provided a solid basis for reconstruction efforts.

    Moreover, he said, today's China has become increasingly open to international assistance in both disaster relief and reconstruction, which will enable it to make use of international resources.

Chinese banks provide reconstruction loans

    BEIJING, May 20 -- Chinese banks have offered 2.99 billion yuan (429 million U.S. dollars) of loans for reconstruction work in the earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan Province as of yesterday noon, the top banking regulator said.

    The China Banking Regulatory Commission also said yesterday on its Website that banks and their employees have donated 750 million yuan to the quake-hit area. Full Story