China National Tobacco Corporation Extends Donation to Earthquake Relief

Source from:  finance.people.com.cn 05/19/2008

China National Tobacco Corporation, which doubled as the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), has promised to extend a donation of 50 million yuan (715 million U.S. dollars) in its own name to disaster relief in vast areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province hit hard by a devastating earthquake on May 12. On May 14, China National Tobacco Corporation sent a message of condolences to both the Chinese Communist Party Sichuan Provincial Committee and Sichuan Provincial People's Government over the catastrophe. More than 50,000 people are feared dead in Sichuan Province alone after the 8-magnitude earthquake, which struck Wenchuan County, about 159 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital city of Chengdu. It has severely affected an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers. The confirmed death toll in Sichuan is more than 30,000. Another more than 100,000 people were injured and more than 10,000 buried in the rubble. Rescuers have pulled more than 10,000 people alive out of the debris. After the powerful earthquake took place, China National Tobacco Corporation and the STMA showed great concern over relief efforts in the disaster areas. On May 13, the STMA held an emergency meeting to make arrangements for disaster relief on the part of the tobacco industry in Sichuan. It has issued an emergency call to the whole tobacco industry to require the local Communist Party organizations and party members to put public interests above anything else, and take an active part in the work of disaster relief at the very frontline. Enditem