The online auction was initiated jointly by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and www.guaweb.com, an online auction house affiliated to the prestigious China Guardian Auction Co Ltd. It was aimed at raising funds for a charity project titled the "'120' Project for the Safety of Mothers and Babies."

During the one-week auction, more than 100 works of art solicited from the public, were auctioned off online without any base price.

The Collected Photographic Works of Gao Jinmin, a renowned photographer; the calligraphic work of Li Xuejian, a famous actor; six refrigerators decorated with colored drawings done by five different artists were among the items offered for auction.

The charity Project has been titled "120" to show the urgency to help pregnant Chinese women from poverty-stricken areas.

Launched last September, it targets 500,000 people in Southwest China's Yunnan Province and Chongqing Municipality, East China's Fujian Province and Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The project supplies cash grants and material goods to impoverished pregnant women both before and after childbirth, as well as providing basic medical facilities in the areas covered by the project.

So far, more than 20,000 poverty-stricken mothers and babies have been assisted, including 85 pregnant women rescued from the verge of death.

People from all levels of society are encouraged to get involved and to support the "'120' Project."

(China Daily August 3, 2004)