The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) decided to donate US$50 million in cash to China hit by a devastating earthquake in May, Xinhua learnt from the Chinese embassy on Tuesday.

The fund will be used in the reconstruction work in the earthquake-hit Sichuan Province in southwestern China, the Chinese embassy said.

Till midday Monday, 69,019 people were confirmed dead in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake, which had its epicenter in Sichuan's Wenchuan County. The number of the injured has reached 373,573, while 18,627 people are reported missing.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2008)