The China Post reports that the Chinese government’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) plans to spend one trillion yuan ($146.5 billion USD) over the next three years to reconstruct areas affected by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
The funds would have the goal of making “basic living standards and economic development match or exceed pre-quake levels”, the Beijing News said, citing the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The budget, allocated to 51 of the hardest-hit counties in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, would include 120 billion yuan for health, education and other basic services, the NDRC said in a notice on its web site (www.ndrc.gov.cn).
Other funds would be divided among housing construction, industrial development, environmental protection and big-ticket infrastructure projects, including a multi-billion yuan railway connecting Sichuan capital Chengdu with the quake-damaged town of Dujiangyan.
For more information on the Sichuan Earthquake, see past CDT posts.