China allocates 732 million yuan to agriculture disaster relief work

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday allocated disaster relief funds totaling 732 million yuan (about 102.3 million U.S. dollars) to support the recovery of agricultural production, according to the country’s finance ministry.

The funds were issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and will be channeled into nine provincial regions, including Hebei, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Fujian, as well as the Beidahuang Group, one of China’s major agricultural and agribusiness groups.

The funds are intended to be used for urgent agricultural flood control and disaster relief work, and to support post-disaster agricultural production.

Appropriate subsidies will be applied to purchases of agricultural materials such as seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides and operational services to resume agricultural production, and to repairs of damaged agricultural production facilities, according to the finance ministry.

Record-breaking rains brought by Typhoon Doksuri have hit northern China, damaging crops and agricultural production facilities and leading to flooding in cities.  ■