China Earthquake Relief
To: USCBC Member Companies and US
Business Associations
From: John Frisbie, President,
US-China Business Council
Date: May 13,
2008
Re:
China Earthquake Relief
As many of you know, on May 12, 2008, China was hit by a large earthquake outside of Chengdu , Sichuan Province, in the country's southwest. Tremors from the quake were felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai . A statement from China 's Ministry of Civil Affairs today said that the 7.8 magnitude earthquake has killed over 9,000 people in Sichuan and several surrounding provinces.
Though we are still learning of the scale of the destruction, we know that many companies and associations are interested in assisting with relief efforts. The US-China Business Council (USCBC) has expressed the concerns and support of the US business community to both to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and the PRC embassy in Washington , DC . Officials in both locations expressed their appreciation for US companies' desire to assist in the relief.
At the moment, only the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has issued an appeal for donations to help the victims. The American Red Cross Society is still waiting for an appeal to be established via the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The American Red Cross Society hopes to have this appeal channel established later today.
China 's
RCSC has expressed a preference for cash donations at this stage, citing
transportation difficulties that would prevent in-kind contributions from
getting to the area. A Xinhua
News Agency bulletin with instructions for making cash donations is pasted
below. RCSC has established a hotline for additional information, but USCBC
staff in Beijing
were unable to get through on Tuesday to verify the details regarding donations.
The hotline numbers are 
(86-10) 6513-9999
and (86-10) 6402-7620.
At this point, we have no further details beyond the above but will report additional information to companies and associations on how to donate to the relief effort when known. Donations from the United States may be more easily facilitated once the American Red Cross has established its relief channel, for example. USCBC will also report further to its membership via the China Market Intelligence newsletter tomorrow.
Red Cross
Calls for Donations to Quake-Stricken Areas in Southwest
China
13 May 2008
Xinhua News Agency
BEIJING , May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) called for donations to help victims in the earthquake-stricken areas in southwest China 's Sichuan Province . The commodities in urgent need such as tents, cotton-padded quilts, food, drinking water are not so easily be transported to the disaster-hit areas due to transportation difficulties, according to the RCSC.
Donations in cash is preferred at this stage, said an official with the RCSC.
Donators can donate cash to the RCSC through the following bank account: for RMB account, the address is Dongsi Office, Beijing Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , the account number is 0200001009014413252; for foreign currency account, the address is Jiuxianqiao Branch of CITIC Bank and the account number is 7112111482600000209.
The RCSC also opened a hotline 010-65139999 and 010-64027620 for consultation during the daytime.
The 7.8-magnitude quake, occurred in Wenchuan Monday afternoon, has killed 9,219 people in eight affected provinces and municipality including Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou and Hubei, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a release issued at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday.
