Enterprises in China's mainland donated more than 3.5 billion yuan (US$501 million) in cash and goods for earthquake relief by 5:00 PM on Saturday, web portal Sina.com said on Sunday.

The figure was more than double that of three days ago when enterprises based in or investing in the mainland had donated an estimated 1.5 billion yuan by Wednesday afternoon.

Following the May 12 earthquake that rocked southwest China's Sichuan Province, thousands of companies have been actively playing their part, in many cases providing financial support for the nationwide relief campaign.

These donors included home-grown enterprises, foreign companies that have invested in the mainland and firms from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.

Some 126 companies provided at least 10 million yuan in either cash or goods, including 11 enterprises that donated 50 million yuan or more.

The two biggest corporate donors were the State Grid Corporation of China, which donated 200 million yuan in cash and goods, and Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Corp., which offered 100 million yuan in cash.

The Information Office of the State Council said China had received 6.02 billion yuan in cash and goods for earthquake relief from home and abroad as of 1:00 PM on Saturday.

Domestic donations almost doubled the figure on Friday to reach 4.9 billion yuan, including 4.18 billion yuan in cash and 720 million yuan of relief materials.

This is the first day that domestic donations have exceeded relief aid allocated from the central budget, which rose to 3.98 billion yuan on Saturday.

The 7.8-magnitude quake, centered on Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province, affected many parts of the country. The death toll had risen to 28,881 nationwide as of 2:00 PM on Saturday, while 198,347 were injured.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2008)