IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Red Cross donations

The Chinese Red Cross Foundation donated a total of 732 million yuan to charity programs in 2008, more than eight times the figure in 2007, said the foundation's council.

The foundation received 1.537 billion yuan in donations from both domestic and overseas sources last year, nine times the amount in 2007, said Wang Rupeng, deputy-director of the board.

About 90 percent of the donations were received for disaster-relief work in Sichuan and other quake-hit areas of China, while the Red Cross Angel Program, which provides medical aid to poor areas, received 104 million yuan, and the Bo'Ai Aid Program for poor students received 36.95 million yuan.

Panda rescue

The World Wildlife Fund recently donated $100,000 to help rescue China's giant pandas, now endangered by bamboo shortage in Sichuan and Gansu provinces.

The donation was made by Morihisa Takagi, president of Nippon Television Network Corporation. The corporation will film the panda rescue for a program to be shown in Japan.

Private donors soar

Sources from Zhejiang Charity Foundation revealed that 80 percent of donations to the organization were from private entrepreneurs last year.

Charity contribution from those benevolent business people amounted to 5.2 billion yuan, compared to total donations of 6.5 billion yuan to Zhejiang Charity Foundation in 2008.

The foundation said that private entrepreneurs have become a key force in charitable activities in the coastal province.

Disaster prevention

The Asian Development Bank recently donated $650,000 to help China improve its natural disaster risk management system.

The money will be used to audit the current system, help the Chinese government formulate a more efficient management strategy and attract the participation of private business.

Migrants get help

Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Development Co Ltd said it would donate 1 million yuan to support the training of returned migrant workers in Guangdong.

(China Daily 02/16/2009 page8)