China National Petroleum Corp. employees have donated 33.78 million yuan (about US$4.7 million) to assist disaster relief in areas hit hard by severe winter weather, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in Beijing on Friday.

The funds will be transferred to disaster-hit provincial-level regions including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia, the ministry said.

They will be used to rebuild and repair collapsed houses and help purchase grain and livestock for impoverished households in these regions.

Some of the funds, 3.56 million yuan, have already been forwarded to disaster-stricken areas via local civil affairs departments or charity institutions in Xinjiang, Tianjin, Guangxi and Tibet.

The donation from the country's largest oil and gas producer was the largest sum the ministry has received so far from employee donors.

Since mid-January, 19 provinces, many in the southern part of the country, have experienced lingering low temperatures, heavy snow and freezing rain. The weather has left 129 people dead and caused 151.65 billion yuan in losses.

(Xinhua New Agency March 8, 2008)