EU to Provide Aid for China's Inner Mongolia

The European Commission said on Wednesday that it has decided to provide 1.2 million euro (1.05 million U.S. dollars) worth of humanitarian aid for the victims of snowstorms in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Inner Mongolia has been seriously affected by severe weather conditions, said the executive body of the European Union (EU). Heavy winter snowfalls, covering more than 45 million hectares of grassland, resulted in 69 deaths of people and killed more than 780,000 livestock, it said.

"The blizzards followed a lengthy period of drought in the region. As a result, nomadic herders have been struggling to preserve their depleted herds. Thirty percent of the population of the region earn their living through livestock production. An estimated 2.6 million people are now affected, with up to 500,000 facing food shortages," the commission said in a statement.

The fund is being used to cover the basic nutritional needs of 100,000 people, according to the statement. In addition, medical kits are being provided as well as materials and rehabilitation work for four primary schools destroyed by the snowstorms.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/