Donations have been pouring in to help those worst hit by the
recent snowstorms.
Bank of China said it will donate 10 million yuan ($1.4 million)
to aid regions stricken by the snow and mobilize all of its
branches nationwide towards that cause.
The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, a nongovernmental
organization, has donated 50,000 yuan in cash, more than 1,000
overcoats and 500 blankets to Anhui province, one of the most
affected areas.
SinoSteel Corp, the country's largest State-owned iron ore
trader, yesterday gave 1 million yuan to the Red Cross Society of
China.
"Large State-owned firms should pay great attention to their
corporate social responsibility, especially during such hard
times," Huang Tianwen, president of Sinosteel, said.
The China operation of German conglomerate Siemens Ltd said
yesterday it will help by donating 100,000 yuan to the China
Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.
The company will also call for its staff to donate clothes and
other necessities.
"China has been the cornerstone of our growth in the past few
years," Richard Hausmann, president and CEO of Siemens Ltd China,
said.
"We, therefore, cannot be separated from the country we do
business in. It is the time we contributed back to the
society."
In Guangzhou, the city's civil affairs department said that it has
received donations totaling more than 6.1 million yuan over the
past three days.
In the past days, hundreds of thousands of passengers have been
left stranded due to the disruption of the transport system
following the snowstorms,
The quilts, blankets, overcoats, raincoats, food and other
necessities donated by local companies and individuals will soon be
distributed to the people stranded in the province, officials
said.
Police, railway staff and related personnel are also working on
the frontline of the support campaign to transport people home for
the lunar new year.
Similarly, the Guangzhou Automobile Group donated 800,000 yuan
in cash, plus 300,000 yuan worth of necessities.
Officials from the Guangdong provincial department of civil
affairs have urged local companies and residents to do what they
can to help victims of the snow.
"Guangdong will not allow a single person to freeze to death or
die of hunger," the officials said.
The provincial civil affairs department has so far sent out
three task forces to the cities of Guangzhou, Shaoguan and
Qingyuan, which have been seriously hit by the snow and cold front,
to help with relief work.
Figures from the department show more than 1.84 million people
have so far been affected by the weather in the province, with
231,000 having to be evacuated from snow-stricken areas over the
past week.
The direct economic loss caused by the bad weather has reached
1.1 billion yuan, officials said.
(China Daily February 1, 2008)
