Chinese government Thursday added 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million) to the snowstorm disaster relief fund for north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said.

About 18 million yuan of the financial aid would be used to purchase tools and materials necessary for the recovery of agriculture and animal husbandry in the storm-affected region, said the MOF in a statement on its website.

The other 12 million yuan would be used to provide supplies and shelters to the disaster-afflicted people, and to rebuild their homes destroyed in the storm, according to the statement.

The governmental aid to the storm-affected Inner Mongolia so far totalled 68 million, the statement said.

Heavy snowstorms and low temperature have been ravaging in Inner Mongolia since the beginning of the year, affecting over 400,000 people up to the end of January.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2010)