"Special CPC membership dues" for quake relief nears 7 bln yuan

Source: Xinhua | 06-12-2008 21:00

BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) members have contributed 6.983 billion yuan (1.009 billion U.S. dollars) "special Party membership dues" as disaster relief donations as of Wednesday.

The money was from 34.2 million CPC members, of whom 2.457 million contributed more than 1,000 yuan each, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee said Thursday.

By Wednesday, 1.2 billion yuan of the dues has been forwarded to the quake areas, the department said.

The department made the decision of accepting some Party members' big amount donations as "special Party membership dues" after the 8.0-magnitude quake struck southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12.

The death toll from the quake rose to 69,159 as of Thursday noon, the State Council Information Office said.

A total of 374,141 people were injured and 17,469 others were still missing.

Editor:Xiong Qu