Businesses have suffered losses estimated at RMB67 bn due to damages caused by last week's earthquake in southwestern China, state media reports. The official death toll is now 34,000 people, and is expected to reach 50,000.
China began three days of official mourning on Monday, and the entire
nation stopped for three minutes at 2.28pm (the time of the quake) to
commemorate the victims. Newspapers are printed only in black and white
on Tuesday, and several websites, including gaming sites, have been
ordered to cease trading for the duration of the three days. Turnover
on the Shanghai stock market was down more than 20 per cent on Monday.
Some 14,207 companies in Sichuan province and surrounding areas have
been damaged, and independent estimates say total losses could top
USD20 bn, once future output losses are taken into account. As many as
17 dams in the region are said to have large cracks in their external
structures.
Food supplies are a significant concern. The quake “killed 12.5 million
farm animals – mostly chickens, and wrecked vegetable crops and
irrigation systems needed to grow rice,” state media reports. “More
than 20,000 hectares of vegetables and more than 10,000 hectares of
wheat were destroyed,” the Agricultural Ministry said.
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