The State Ethnic Affairs Commission decided on Tuesday to grant 2 million yuan (about US$285,000) to its provincial branch in the southwestern Sichuan Province for disaster-relief work.

The funds will be used with a special focus on aiding ethnic minorities who have been affected by the earthquake. The organization will also mobilize all its employees to donate to the disaster-hit areas.

Wenchuan County, which was the epicenter of the Monday quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, is located in the Aba Autonomous Prefecture of Tibetan and Qiang nationalities, Sichuan Province.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)