2-billion-yuan milestone for quake zone donations

BEIJING - The value of goods and money gathered in donations by the China Charity Federation (CCF) and its local affiliates for the southwestern Chinese region hit by a deadly earthquake last month has topped 2 billion yuan (323.6 million US dollars).

As of Monday, the donations for the quake zone included more than 350 million yuan's worth of relief materials and 1.65 billion yuan in cash, the CCF, a leading charity organization in the country, said in a statement on its website.

Most of the donations would be used for post-quake reconstruction, according to the statement.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan in southwest China's Sichuan province on April 20, killing at least 196 people.