Record $14.6b to charities

Donations to charities in the country are set to hit a record high this year, following relief efforts for some of the worst natural disasters in decades, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs has said.

"We expect the total amount of donations to reach close to 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) by the end of the year, which is equal to 0.4 percent of China's GDP," Vice-Minister Dou Yupei said in an interview on the government's website on Wednesday.

"For the May 12 quake in Sichuan alone, 60 billion yuan of donations have poured in," Dou said.