A school that was badly damaged in the 2008 WenChuan earthquake re-opened today (4th June 2009) in MianYang in SiChuan Province. The reconstruction project is supported by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, the Blue Scope Steel Group and the Australian Allens Arthur Robinson attorney affairs office.
ANZ Bank said that the three Australian companies are cooperating with the government of Mianyang city Sichuan Province, to reconstruct the teaching building of the YangJia school in the city which contains six new classrooms for 300 students.
The new teaching building was named an “ANZ Bank Building”. Designed for resisting earthquakes of up to 8 on the Richter scale, the building ulilizes high-quality, recyclable building materials, including steel made in Australia.
The school buildings are financed by the Australia-New Zealand Bank Group. BlueScope Steel Group is responsible for the provision of building materials and construction supervision while Allens Arthur Robinson attorney affairs office provides free legal services. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group will also fund the school’s desks and chairs, and donate stationery to students.
The Chief Executive Officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, ZhaoMing Gao, said that ANZ Bank and China are involved in a long-term cooperative relationship. The Yang Middle School reconstruction project provides the opportunity to ANZ Bank “to make some permanent changes in” severely dameaged region in the earthquake.
MIANYANG, Sichuan, April 1 (Xinhua) — The reconstruction of Beichuan Middle School, one of the schools that sustained the most damage in last year’s earthquake in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, will start May 12, the first anniversary of the earthquake, officials said Wednesday.
The new school, mostly funded by donations from Chinese all over the world, will be built in Beichuan’s new county seat, said Liu Qi, an official with the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), which was in charge of aiding the rebuilding.
Officials will choose a design from submissions by leading universities including Tsinghua and Tongji as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Hong Kong University, he said.
More than 1,300 of the school’s 2,900 students and teachers were killed or left missing in the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the Wenchuan 8.0-magnitude earthquake. Surviving students have attended classes in temporary pre-fab structures since shortly after the disaster.
Overseas Chinese have donated nearly 200 million yuan (29 million U.S. dollars) since August when the donation campaign began, Liu said.
The new school will cover about 13 hectares and is expected to enroll more than 5,000 students.
An ACFROC official arrived in Sichuan Tuesday and will work with the local government on construction, he said.
The reconstruction of Beichuan County, one of the worst-hit areas in the quake, began in February. The new seat is between Yong’an Township and Anchang Township, about 23 km from the former county seat.
CHENGDU, April 1 (Xinhua) — A public controversy over spending on a proposed earthquake museum in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has prompted officials to come forward and defend the plans.
The 2.3-billion-yuan (338 million-U.S.-dollar) plan reported by local media comprised costs of other projects in addition to the Beichuan County Earthquake Museum, near the epicenter of last year’s May 12 quake, said Lin Jizhong, deputy director of the county’s Culture and Tourism Bureau Wednesday.
The museum itself would only cost 135 million yuan (20 million U.S. dollars), said Lin.
The news of the plan provoked a public outcry on the Internet after local newspapers reported in late March.
Many people contended that a museum was necessary, but as the province was in dire need of money for reconstruction, investing such a huge amount in the museum was unwise.
Wu Changfu, head of the Shanghai-based project planning expert group which outlined the budget, said, “The money was not used solely for construction of the museum building. The environmental protection work and road construction will also be included in the plan.”
“The feasibility report of the museum is being drafted,” Wu said.
Lin said the planned museum was not just an exhibition building, but encompassed the remnants of the old county seat, and traces left by secondary disasters such as mud-rock flows and quake lakes.
The natural scenery of the Tangjiashan quake lake area and culture of the Qiang ethnic minority would also feature in the attraction.
The entire project covered 8 square kilometers, with the Beichuan Middle School at the center, Lin said.
More than 80,000 people were confirmed dead or missing after the quake.
Premier Wen Jiabao suggested when he was in Beichuan after the quake that a museum should be erected.
Lin said construction was scheduled to start later this year in fall went smoothly.
“We hope the museum can bring more revenue to local people,” he said. “The dead are dead, but we hope the living can live better lives.”
Special Report: Reconstruction After Earthquake
CHENGDU, April 3 (Xinhua) — Southwest China’s Sichuan Province said it would accelerate post-quake rebuilding in an effort to finish most of the work by September 2010, a year ahead of schedule.
The goal is to complete 85 percent of the reconstruction projects and ensure “housing and employment for each family,” according to a provincial meeting for accelerating reconstruction held Thursday.
The completion targets cover more than 90 percent of transport projects, 98 percent of power grids and 99 percent of public service projects such as medical care.
The meeting said 85 percent of the rebuilding work in worst-hit areas, and all work except for some major projects in less-affected areas, would be completed by September 2010.
Reconstruction of rural housing will be completed at the end of this year, with that in townships and cities to be finished before May 2010.
Students who now attend classes in temporary building are to be back in permanent structures by next spring.
The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China, centered in Wenchuan, Sichuan, on May 12 last year, killed more than 69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and millions homeless.
The Sichuan government estimated post-quake rebuilding will cost about 1.6 trillion yuan (235 billion U.S. dollars)
Sunday 8th March 2009
Approximately 20 Chengdu Sports Aid volunteers and the Jerry Snell circus took a bus to Luo Shui via PengZhou. About 50 kids were waiting for the group, and they got involved in sports coaching and activities, including skipping, basketball, badminton, soccer/football, and touch rugby.
There followed a fabulous performance from the Jerry Snell crew. David Fiset, the bespectacled clown, drew in the whole crowd with sensational stage craft, with suitcase-based antics, threatening to kiss the audience, balancing a mop, a chair and a bicycle on his chin. Pipat Suwapa was up next, mesmerising the crowd with his glass ball manipulation/juggling and comic moments, and Becky Hoops (Becky Priebe) followed up with dozens of hula hoops on the go simultaneously, massive hula hoops, and acrobatics verging on contortion. Her tantalisingly frilly pair of bloomers were a big hit with the clown, who joined in the act, jumping in and out of moving hula hoops, standing on Becky’s shoulders and on her front as she held a bridge, all this with hula hoops and juggling going on. David Bernbaum dazzled with his witty MCing, juggling, hula-hoop handling, magic, and handstands, and after some club-juggling and firestick juggling, the finale combined the talents of all 4 performers, overseen by Jerry Snell himself.
The crowd absolutely loved the show and screamed for more. The post-finale was the golden moment of the day, as a little girl helped the clown pick up his juggling clubs. As she handed him one, he had no choice but to drop one to make room for the proffered club. The helpful assistant would hand the ‘next’ one to the clown, who again had to make room by dropping another. After about 7 exchanges, the little girl got fed up, picked up a club, and marched it into the performers’ dressing room, with the contrite clown in tow, and the crowd applauding.
The day finished with a penalty shoot-out competition, with the winner presented with a Glasgow Rangers football kit by die-hard fan Andy McAuley.
The day was a great deal of fun, and was a chance for SQR to check out the sports surface they helped fund at the school. The sandy/soily surface is fine for all the sports played on this day, and Chengdu Sports Aid aims to make regular trips to provide sports coaching and activities.
Many thanks to all at the school for welcoming us and to all at SQR for organising the trip, and for EtonHouse for providing the bus.
On Tuesday 3rd March 2009, Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) signed an agreement with China’s quake-hit Sichuan province, which will see the SAR finance 10 reconstruction projects in Guangyuan city, Sichuan, according to a press release from the SAR government.
The 10 projects include the rebuilding of roads, bridges, river embankment, and sewage treatment works in Guangyuan city, for which the SAR government will allocate 687 million yuan (102 million U.S. dollars), according to the press release.
The agreement was signed in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu by Chui Sai On, the Macao SAR’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, and representatives of the Sichuan Provincial Government.
The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Sichuan’s Wenchuan County, which took place on May 12 last year, left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless, according to official statistics.
The government of the Macao SAR has already signed a general agreement with the Sichuan provincial government, under which the SAR will finance the reconstruction projects in the quake-stricken province located in south western China. According to the agreement, Macao SAR will spend an amount of 5.5 billion patacas (688 million U.S. dollars) funding the rebuilding projects in some counties of Sichuan.
The Macao SAR government initiated the financing of seven reconstruction projects in Guanyuan last year, and, with the agreement to finance the above 10 projects signed, a total of 17 Macao-financed rebuilding projects in Guangyuan have been launched so far, according to the press release.
After completing the financial arrangements of the 17 projects, the SAR government said it would continue to assess another 19 rebuilding projects mainly of education and sports facilities.
Bank of China (BOC) signed an agreement here Wednesday with Sichuan Province to provide areas hit by the May 12 quake with at least 300 billion yuan (43.9 billion U.S. dollars) in loans for reconstruction over the next five years.
The Sichuan government has estimated post-quake rebuilding will cost more than 1.6 trillion yuan.
The Beijing-based bank, one of the country’s top four lenders, said it would also offer financing support for small and medium-sized companies in Sichuan.
The 8.0-magnitude quake, centered in Sichuan, left more than 80,000 people dead or missing and millions homeless
26th Feb 2009, a water supply project that funded by Lian’s, a Singapore NGO, was officially implemented. The water-purify system that cost nearly 2 million RMB can reverse-osmose 60 cubic metres of water and ultra-filtrate 180 cubic metres, which is sufficient for 10 thousand Ligu residents’ daily water usage. Water that is processed by reverse osmosis can be drunk directly without boiling.
On the same day, a water-purification factory was put into production in Shengli Village, Leigu, Beichuan County. This factory, like the residents of the village, has received great deal of support from Lian’s, and became the first village-run factory ‘back to work’ in Beichuan’s reconstruction work and the first in Shengli Village’s history.
It is expected that the factory can provide 120 thousand bottles of purified water every day, 7.2 million RMB yearly profit and 20-100 jobs to local people.
On 20th, The Finance Commission of Hong Kong Legislative Council approved the proposal of an additional 4 billion Hong Kong dollars that will be added to the Trust Fund of Assistance on Reconstruction in Sichuan Quake-hit Region, which made the total capital of the fund rise to 6 billion.
According to Lin Ruilin, the commander of Hong Kong Department of Mainland Affairs, in July 2008, the Council had granted 2 billion Hong Kong dollars as assistance in the first phrase of the reconstruction. This batch of money will be used in 103 projects, including 80 in realms like schools, medical rehabilitation, and social welfare facilities; and 23 in Wolong Natural reserve.
The fund had started to accept applications from Hong Kong NGOs that were working on post-quake relief work in Sichuan in Oct 2008. By Dec, 12 application had been approved, the total amount of financial aid was over 87 million.
唐家山堰塞湖水位高 将清淤和开挖泄流槽 2009-02-19 来源：四川在线-华西都市报 According to a source at the Mianyang City government, silt drainage of the Tangjiashan quake-lake is about to start, which is planned to be implemented in two phases, with an investment of a total of 160 million rmb. The water level of Tangjiashan Quake Lake has now stabilised at 718 metres, which is lower than it was shortly after the September 24th flood. However the Chengdu Investigation and Design Research Institute of China Hydropower Advisory Group, on the basis of various measurements and tests, urges caution: the lake still post threats to people downstream. Experts underlined that constant heavy rain and aftershock worryingly increased the possibility of mudslide that would cause massive siltation and consequent flooding. As yet, there is no easy access to this area, and the restoration program recommended in the current feasibility report would be very challenging. In essence, the plan is to excavate deep division channels, leaving 70-80 metre side slopes on 2 banks that consist of silted rock fragments, presenting considerable risk. In line with the set plan, drainage and clear-up needs to be completed before the flooding season this year, which is a major part of the first phase of the entire project. Deformation inspection, facility installation and construction of levees are required to be finished by the end of 2009. The estimated total investment of the whole project is approximately 160.41 million, specifically, 52.75 for the first stage and 107.66 for the second.
Yesterday afternoon (2-17), officials of Zhejiang Department of Education came to Qingchuan County and set up an incentive fund with 10 million RMB that were donated by individuals and institutions of Zhejiang educational system. This fund is established in the name of the People Education Fund, the interest of which (about 40 thousand) will be used as a financial source of a yearly reward to 10 outstanding teachers who have been teaching in villages of Qingchuan for 10 (or more) years.
It is also known that besides the incentive fund, Zhejiang Province is making a 2-year plan on inviting 150 teachers of Qingchuan to Zhejiang to study and send 150 exceptional teachers to Qingchuan to teach. 5 professional counselors will be dispatched to Qingchuan County to set up 3 counseling offices for Qingchuan Middle School, Qingchuan Secondary School and Qingchuan Primary School respectively.
As known from Leading Group Office of Human Recourse, Aba Autonomy will offer training courses to 3500 migrant workers who have been or plan to engage in business of construction work such as masonries, scaffolders, and carpenters, which are urgently needed.
This move could enable the completion of all damaged houses’ reconstruction by Oct. So far, relevant counties have proposed training schemes respectively and the first batch of expenditure has also been distributed.
Hope Project to invest 400mln Yuan in Sichuan quake zones
Xinhua 2009-01-07 18:43:25
More than 410 million Yuan (about 60 million U.S. dollars) will be invested by the Hope Project in quake zones in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, according to the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF).
Some 254 primary schools in 33 counties will be built with the money, said Tu Meng, deputy general secretary of CYDF. A construction timeline had not been decided yet, Tu said.
The foundation will also provide computer rooms, libraries, movies, sports grounds, teacher training and scholarships.
The money will be used in eight quake affected areas in Sichuan, including Chengdu, Mianyang, Deyang and Aba Autonomous Prefecture of Tibetan and Qiang nationalities.
Donations helped raise the 410 million Yuan, said Tu.
Hope Project, started in 1989, is a Chinese public service project organized by CYDF and the Communist Youth League (CYL). Its goal is to help children in poverty-stricken areas to go to school.
Chuan Kong Recovery Centre opened on 12th January 2009
On 12th January 2009, the Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Centre (Chuan Gang kang fu zhong xin), funded with 224 million Yuan from the Hong Kong government, officially opened in Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital. This is the first rehabilitation centre the Hong Kong government has funded in mainland China and also one of 20 projects that the Hong Kong government plans to work on as part of its support for Sichuan.
The rehabilitation of the injured in the May Quake is a very important part of post-quake relief. Tang Yingnian, Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary, expressed his concern and support on this issue when he and the Hong Kong inspection group visited Sichuan recently. Afterwards, the Hong Kong and Sichuan governments signed a letter of intention of Constructional Support from Hong Kong Government on 7th Nov 2008, when the initial 2 billion reconstructive support funds were approved. The main objective of this project was to establish a modernized rehabilitation system that would provide rehabilitative treatment and related training.
Also, on 22nd Dec 2008, the Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Training and Development Project, part of the Stand-Up Program that was started by the International Ethnic-Chinese Orthopedics Association, officially received financial aid from Hong Kong government.
It is understood that the Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Centre, consisting of a Training Centre and Orthopedic Limb Centre, occupies 27 thousand square metres, with 350 rehabilitation beds. Wei Hong, the vice governor of Sichuan Province, stated that CKRC will be a critical base that provides directions and training to rehabilitation centres in 39 substantially quake-hit townships, forming a rehabilitation network covering the entire province.
At present, the preparatory work and personnel training are underway. 4 rehabilitation professionals have already started work in Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, guiding and participating in rehabilitative work on those injured in the quake.
According to the 2008 annual meeting of China Medical Apparatus Industry Association, the investment in reconstruction of medical infrastructure in quake-hit regions has reached 11.7 billion, which includes 1.87 billion that were used for purchase and maintenance of medical facilities.
According to some statistics, 26,672 medical institutions were impaired in the 5.12 quake in Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi. 63,925 equipments and facilities plus 8.71 million square metres housing were damaged. Total economic losses reached 11.6 billion.
The 11.7 billion investments from state medical system were directly allocated to hospitals in quake-hit townships. Specifically, 2 million to every town level polyclinic (758 million in total), 285 million for county hospitals of Chinese medicine, 106 million for maternal and child healthcare hospitals, 363 million for township hospitals and 56 million for village clinics. In addition to this, disease prevention institution and health inspection agencies received 106 and 33 million respectively. The basic deployed items include ECG and EEG machines, heart defibrillators, bedside monitors, central monitoring systems, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, colour ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, and endoscopy equipment.
CHENGDU, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — Land acquisition has started for the construction of the new seat for Beichuan County, the worst-hit area in last year’s 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province, according to local authorities.
More than 10,000 people, mostly farmers, are the first to be relocated as an industrial park began construction Thursday in their hometown. These people will become residents of the new county seat, said Chen Xingchun, Party chief of Beichuan.
The Beichuan-Shandong Industrial Park, which covers two square kilometers, belongs to the first phase of construction.
The land acquisition and relocation for the new county seat are expected to complete within two months.
The relocated will temporarily live with relatives or friends before the new county seat is finished. Each person will be paid 40 yuan (6 U.S. dollars) per month during the transition, he said.
“The local government also provides training so that they can work in factories in the new seat. We must ensure that people can live a stable and rich life in the future,” Chen said.
“The construction of the new county seat will change our living environment and living styles. It is good for us, so we support it,” said Li Gang, a villager of Huangtu Township, part of which will be included into the county seat.
All of the relocated will be given the choice of a free, 35 square-meter home or 36,000 yuan to build their own houses, Chen said.
The former seat of Beichuan, on the juncture of two fault lines, was leveled in the devastating May 12 quake. The quake left more than 69,000 people dead and 374,000 injured. Another 18,000 are missing and millions were left homeless.
The new seat is located to the east of Anchang Township, about 35 km from where it once stood. Officials and planning experts said the new site has good geologic conditions and sufficient usable land. It is far from fault lines.
The new town is expected to have 50,000 residents in three years and expand to more than 9 sq km by 2020 with 85,000 residents.
The first phase of the three-stage construction will cost 19.32 billion yuan. It includes public welfare facilities, government headquarters and housing.
Beichuan, a mountainous area, is the ancestral home of an ethnic group known as the Qiang, who number 300,000. They have their own language, food and performing arts, all of which face extinction as their homes were in the worst-hit parts of the quake zone.
The economic downturn has had an enormous impact on the semiconductor sector, forcing companies to take measures to cut costs, said Liu Liang, an analyst at Industrial Securities Co. Ltd. Moving operations from Shanghai, a high-cost city, to a cheaper place like Sichuan might be an effective way to cope with the financial crisis, he said.
In addition, such a move could stimulate the economy in Sichuan, which was still trying to recover from last year’s catastrophic 8.0-magnitude earthquake, Liu said.
The quake uprooted millions of people, leaving many without homes or jobs.
U.S.-based Intel announced the move in a notice posted on its website. The notice said the company would move a Shanghai-based assembly and test factory to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, within 12 months.
The move will mean increased activity in Chengdu and a corresponding workforce reduction in Shanghai, which will affect about 2,000 employees, it said.
The company said it would offer positions to the employees either in the Chengdu factory, a plant in Dalian that is under construction, or other Intel China locations that need experienced staff.
Intel also intends to increase investment in the Dalian factory, to equip it with the latest available advanced microprocessor technology.
The notice said Shanghai would remain its core research and development base in China, as well as its regional headquarters. Other Intel factories and projects would proceed as planned.
The company also said it would increase its registered capital by 110 million U.S. dollars in Intel China Ltd., the company’s investment holding firm in Shanghai.
“The plans are expected to enhance the capacity of the Chengdu plant, optimize manufacturing resources and consolidate Intel’s operations in China,” said Nancy Zhang, director of the public relations group.
“Intel has been very prudent in making decisions. The proposed policy changes demonstrate Intel’s deep-rooted confidence in the Chinese market,” she said.
She said she could not give further details about the planned changes.
Shanghai municipal commission of commerce said Intel has submitted an application to the Ministry of Commerce for recognizing Intel China Ltd. as a national-level headquarters. The company had been ratified by the Shanghai authority as Intel China’s regional headquarters before.
However, Nancy Zhang said she had no information about this.
According to Shanghai’s preferential policy taking effect last December, a foreign company could get a 5-million-yuan (over 731,000 U.S. dollars) subsidy for opening regional headquarters in the city and more than 2.6 million yuan for renting offices in three years. The opening subsidy could rise to 10 million yuan if the headquarters get recognition from the Ministry of Commerce.
CHENGDU, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) — Southwest China’s Sichuan Province said Tuesday it will closely audit the use of post-quake rebuilding funds over the next three to five years and publicly release the results at the end of that period.
The province will carefully scrutinize the raising, distribution and use of funds and supplies, according to a document issued by the general office of the Sichuan provincial government.
“The funds and supplies [audited] will include appropriations by the provincial and local governments, as well as donations,” the notice said.
Central government appropriations will be separately monitored by the Beijing-based National Audit Office. Last year, the central government allocated 70 billion yuan (about 10.1 billion U.S. dollars) for a reconstruction fund for the quake zone.
The document, however, did not mention the controversial purchase of a luxury car in Beichuan, one of the hardest-hit counties. The mountainous county, where about 20,000 people were dead or missing after the massive earthquake, paid 1.1 million yuan including taxes for a luxury Toyota land cruiser. The deal, exposed in a blog, triggered public anger and was termed as “corruption” by some critics. However, Beichuan’s public security Chief Zhang Depu defended the purchase Friday, saying tough transport conditions made high-quality cross-country vehicles necessary in emergencies. He said the land cruiser would become a wireless communications car for emergency use in rescue and disaster relief work.
The provincial document said that auditors in Sichuan will give special attention to key projects and areas such as the rebuilding of homes, schools, hospitals, welfare homes and other public facilities. Auditors will also scrutinize quality control systems in the post-quake rebuilding, it said.
The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China, including many parts of Sichuan, on May 12 killed more than 69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and millions homeless.
The Sichuan provincial government estimated post-quake rebuilding will cost about 1.6 trillion yuan.
Workers from 20 provinces are involved in the reconstruction effort. Those provinces will allocate at least 1 percent of their annual fiscal revenues into the reconstruction projects for three years.
HONG KONG, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) — Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said here Thursday it is seeking another injection of 4 billion HK dollars (about 516 million U.S. dollars) into the trust fund to support the reconstruction in the earthquake stricken areas in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam said the HKSAR government will support the region’s second-stage reconstruction work in Sichuan with the 4 billion HK dollars, if approved, and the 2 billion HK dollars commitments earlier.
The second-stage relief efforts taken by HKSAR will cover 103 projects in different areas, including 80 education, medical and rehabilitation, and social welfare projects, and 23 relating to the Wolong Natural Reserve reconstruction.
Secretary for Development Carrie Lam said the major earthquake inflicted devastating damage to the Wolong area, the habitat of the giant pandas that needs urgent rebuilding works as soon as possible.
“Local conservation and construction experts will participate in monitoring the projects, while the Ocean Park of Hong Kong has been appointed by Hong Kong and Sichuan as a technical consultant,” she said.
The Wolong reconstruction will cost about 1.607 billion HK dollars (about 207 million U.S. dollars), involving rebuilding the conservation area’s ecological environment and scientific research facilities, as well as infrastructure and public utilities to serve the local population.
The HKSAR government promised to proceed and monitor its resource capability and the reconstruction support work does not exceed 10 billion HK dollars (1.29 billion U.S. dollars) in financial terms.
Government officials will brief the Legislative Council Development Panel on the work progress on Feb. 3, before submitting a fund application to the LegCo Finance Committee by the end of next month.
The trust fund has so far approved 12 applications in the first phase for schemes in education, medical services, physical and psychological rehabilitation, and training.
MANILA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it is providing the bank’s first grant on enhancing disaster management to China, to solve the aftermath of the 8.0-magnititude earthquake which killed more than 80,000 people in southwestern Sichuan province last May.
The funds, totaling 650,000 U.S. dollars, will be used to conduct a full review of the current system and to help China develop a risk management strategy that is coordinated, effective, and more inclusive of the civil society and the private sector, ADB said in a statement.
It is the first time that ADB is providing technical assistance to support the development of public or private partnerships in disaster management, it said, adding that the need for an all-round disaster risk management system in China “has never been greater.”
“In the past there has been no mechanism for those (outside of government) who want to contribute and this TA will help address that concern. It will ultimately reduce the burden on the government,” said Manmohan Parkash, Principal Transport Specialist for ADB’s East Asia Department.
The grant complements an earlier technical assistance grant of 1 million U.S. dollars, approved in May 2008, to provide a preliminary assessment of the earthquake damage and reconstruction needs for Sichuan, the bank said.
