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Disaster Relief |
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| China is among the few countries with the most serious natural disasters. Especially since the 1990s, more than 200 million people have suffered from disasters every year, with several thousand deaths and more than 100 billion yuan of economic losses. Natural disasters have become important factors adversely affecting economic development and social stability. The Chinese Government attaches much importance to disaster relief. Enhancing the risk management related to natural disasters has become a pressing need to promote the sustainable development of the economy and society. Let-up in the Occurrence of Natural Disasters in 2004 During the year, 37.106 million hectares of cropland were affected by disasters, down 31.8 percent over the previous year. Of it, 4.36 million hectares failed to support any crop, down 49 percent. An estimated 340 million people throughout the country were affected by natural disasters, down 30.6 percent. Among these, 2,250 were killed, down 0.4 percent. And there were 1.55 million houses collapsing, down 54.8 percent and direct economic losses stood at 16.023 billion yuan, down 15 percent. Direct economic losses caused by marine disasters in 2004 stood at about 5.42 billion yuan, down 32.6 percent over the preceding year. And 96 red tides were confirmed during the year, 23 less than in the previous year; the total area affected by red tides was about 26,630 square km, up 83 percent over the previous year. The number of geologic disasters for the year stood at 15,954, resulting in 697 deaths and causing 2.06 billion yuan in direct economic losses. There were 22 earthquakes at and above Richter magnitude 5, including two at and above magnitude 6, seven less than the previous year. The earthquakes resulted in eight deaths, down 97.49 percent over the previous year, with direct economic losses amounting to 950 million yuan. Traffic Accidents In 2004, the number of road traffic accidents was 568,000 involving 99,000 deaths, 452,000 injuries and 2.77 billion yuan in direct economic losses. Enhancing Disaster-Relief Emergency Response and Coordination During the year, the Central Government allocated 3.2 billion yuan for disaster relief. Relief donations amounted to 4.89 million yuan with 33,900 tents made available for disaster relief, 6.11 million people transferred to safe places, and 90 million people helped. With these efforts to guarantee the basic needs of people hit by natural disasters, society remained stable.
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