The Ministry of Civil Affairs has made public how it used public donations it received in 2011 for disaster relief purposes, a move to boost charity transparency.

According to a ministry statement Xinhua received Friday, the ministry last year received more than 18.63 million yuan (2.95 million U.S. dollars) in public disaster relief donations, of which all but 623 yuan has been allocated.

Of that, 7.78 millon yuan was distributed to northwest China's Qinghai provincial authorities for disaster relief following the 7.1-magnitude Yushu earthquake in April 2010.

Some 9.32 million and 1.53 million yuan was given to northwestern Gansu provincial authorities for reconstruction in areas hit by the August 2010 Zhouqu landslides and the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, respectively.

After a series of scandals hit the country's charity sector last year, the ministry in December issued a guideline urging improved transparency of charity operations and donations use.