Snow havoc in China causes $7.5 billion loss

China National News (IANS) Friday 1st February, 2008

Beijing, Feb 1 (Xinhua) The heavy snow that hit China's central and southern regions over the past three weeks has caused economic loss of about 53.9 billion yuan ($7.5 billion), the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Friday.

The worst snow in five decades has so far killed 60 and forced more than one million people to relocate. More than 200,000 houses were destroyed and another 800,000 were damaged in heavy snow, said Zou Ming, deputy director of the ministry's disaster-relief department.

Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were most severely hit. The central government has allocated 331 million yuan ($45.97 million) to fund local disaster relief work, Zou said.

'The snow has taken a toll on the Chinese economy,' said Zhu Hongren, deputy director of the Bureau of Economic Operations but added that the 'country's economic fundamentals are sound.'

Power supply to most parts of China have been snapped by the prolonged snow, rain and cold weather.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has set up a command centre to coordinate contingency measures for coal and oil transport, power supply transmission and disaster relief in snow-hit areas, Zhu said.

On Friday, the Ministry of Railways started a ten-day emergency coal shipping campaign, vowing to ensure a daily thermal coal delivery of above 40,000 carriages, said ministry official Zhao Chunlei.

The meteorological bureau of central China's Hunan province warned Friday that heavy snow and black ice had increased the risk of road travel even as the cold spell continued to wreak havoc in most parts of the province.

Snowfall was recorded in 13 counties and cities Thursday night and Friday morning, including Jishou, Changde, Yiyang, Yueyang and Chenzhou. Ningxiang County received the maximum snowfall with 16 mm.

The Hunan section of the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, the country's key north-south trunk road, has been paralysed by black ice, leaving tens of thousands of vehicles and people stranded for days in the cold winter.

The bureau warned of traffic delays, which could get further worse. The Guangdong Provincial Price Bureau has asked hotels and inns not to charge high prices from its customers till the weather condition improves. The bureau said they would withdraw the measure when the disaster is over.