China's insurance regulator announced on Tuesday that insurance firms nationwide had paid a total of 680 million yuan (US$94 million) in claims to snow-disaster victims.

Insurers should expedite claims processing and do their best to support disaster relief efforts, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) urged in a bulletin.

By Tuesday, People's Insurance Company of China had paid 410 million yuan in claims, including 174 million yuan to local power departments.

Previous reports have said that Central China's Hunan Province, the worst-hit area, had reported claims of more than three billion yuan by Monday. Major insurers, including China Life, Ping An and China Pacific Insurance, had advanced 40 million yuan against pending claims.

By Monday, insurers in Hubei Province had received claims of more than 400 million yuan, including claims for the loss of 6,288 fertile sows. The insurers had paid about a quarter of the claims, including 6.28 million yuan to local pig breeders.

Three weeks of severe winter weather, the worst in decades in central, eastern and southern China, has led to death, structural collapse, blackouts, accidents, transport problems and livestock and crop destruction.

The snow havoc has hit 19 provinces, toppled 223,000 homes and damaged another 862,000, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The ministry said more than 100 million people had been affected and at least 60 people had been killed.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2008)