The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) had donated 240 million yuan (US$30 million) to tsunami-hit countries by the end of November, according to a news conference held in Beijing on Monday.

 

RCSC has offered 168 million yuan (US$20.8 million) to 11 countries as emergency relief funds and another 72 million yuan (US$8.9 million) to help these countries rebuild their homeland, said RCSC Vice President Jiang Yiman when reporting to the media on this year's relief work.

 

By the end of November, RCSC had received public donations totaling 427 million yuan (US$52 million) and relief materials valued at 15.6 million yuan (US$1.9 million), Jiang said.

 

Meanwhile, RCSC joined hands with the China Charity Federation in helping reconstruction in tsunami-hit countries, including building houses, renovating schools and hospitals and setting up disaster centers in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar.

 

The disastrous tsunami, which occurred on December 26 of 2004, killed an estimated 400,000 people in 11 countries and left 2.4 million others homeless, according to the Caritas Internationalis.

 

The reconstruction work will take five to 10 years, according to a forecast of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

 

RCSC will continue to help the affected countries by sending more relief funds in accordance with the reconstruction plan, Jiang said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2005)