More than 64 percent of stores in China's quake regions have resumed business after the May 12 earthquake as of Monday, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) official said on Tuesday.

In total, 138,000 stores were damaged or destroyed in the quake-hit Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, accounting for 20 percent of the total, Chang Xiaocun, director of MOC market construction department, said during an on-line interview.

According to preliminary estimates, the combined economic losses totaled 26.7 billion yuan (US$3.81 billion), Chang said.

To make life easier for the millions of quake refugees, MOC was sending vending vans and building corner shops to ensure adequate delivery and supply of goods in demand.

As of Tuesday, 370 vending vans had been sent into remote towns and villages in the worst-hit Sichuan, he said.

Meanwhile, 5,000 corner shops would be built in quake communities before the end of August, selling food and daily necessities to quake refugees, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2008)