Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Tuesday signed an agreement with China's quake-hit Sichuan Province, which will see the SAR finance 10 reconstruction projects in Guangyuan City, Sichuan, according to a press release from the SAR government.

The 10 projects include the rebuilding of roads, bridges, river embankment, and sewage treatment works, etc in Guangyuan City, for which the SAR government will allocate 687 million yuan (US$102 million), according to the press release.

The agreement was signed in Sichuan's capital Chengdu by Chui Sai On, the SAR's secretary for social affairs and culture, and representative of the Sichuan provincial government.

The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Sichuan's Wenchuan County, which took place on May 12 last year, left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless, according to official statistics.

The government of Macao SAR has already signed a general agreement with the Sichuan provincial government, under which the SAR will finance the reconstruction projects in the quake-stricken province located in south western China. According to the agreement, Macao SAR will spend an amount of 5.5 billion patacas (US$688 million) funding the rebuilding projects in some counties of Sichuan.

The SAR government has already initiated the financing of seven reconstruction projects in Guanyuan last year, and, with the agreement to finance the above 10 projects signed, a total of 17 Macao-financed rebuilding projects in Guangyuan was launched so far, according to the press release.

After completing the financial arrange of the 17 projects, the SAR government said it will continue to assess another 19 rebuilding projects mainly of education and sports facilities.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2009)