China extends helping hands to rebuild Syria

Even as the daily bloodshed continues in the almost seven-year-old Syrian civil war, the country is already planning for its eventual reconstruction.

Estimates of the cost of this massive enterprise vary. The government of President Bashar al-Assad says it will need $195 billion to rebuild. Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy, says the final figure will be nearer $250 billion, while other estimates range even higher.

With half the population displaced and millions still trapped by continued fighting, efforts are so far confined to relatively stable areas of the divided country.