Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake

    BEIJING, June 2 -- Now that the rescue operation following last month's devastating earthquake has ended, the focus has shifted to reconstruction.

    City planners are rushing to make blueprints for community reconstruction while the resources necessary in the massive task, from financial to personnel, are being tapped nationwide to rehabilitate the victims.

    Among the millions of people affected by the quake, 5 million have lost their homes and are in immediate need of relocation.

    Apart from the loss of lives and properties, a good number of public infrastructure such as railways, highways, bridges, power network, communication facilities and water conservancy works have been damaged or even destroyed. It may take months to repair them as recovery efforts have been frequently disrupted by mudslides.

    So far, the government has provided 70 billion yuan; the banking regulators have allowed an extra lending quota of about 100 billion yuan for the affected regions; more than 32 billion yuan of donations had been pledged as of last Tuesday; and the Sichuan provincial government is expected to invest heavily in the reconstruction projects.

    The total amount that will go into rebuilding the disaster zone could be well above those figures put together since the reconstruction process may last many years.

    The country's sound fiscal condition will ensure adequate funding for the reconstruction, says He Fan, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

    Fiscal revenues amounted to 5.13 trillion yuan last year, up more than 30 percent year-on-year. Revenues are expected to increase to more than 6.4 trillion year this year, says Liu Yuanchun, economist and head of the School of Economics at the Renmin University of China. "Therefore the funding demand can be met by adjusting the government expenditure structure and using private donations."

    "In the worst-case scenario (in the event of fiscal difficulties), China can use financial instruments such as a 30-year special quake treasury to pool money," says He from CASS. "In this way, it can spread out the fiscal pressure."

    Agrees Li Xiaoxi, a senior economist with the Beijing Normal University, who says the government can also design policies to woo private investors to participate in the reconstruction.

    Minister of Civil Affairs Li Xueju has reportedly said his ministry is planning to launch a relief lottery nationwide to pool money for quake-hit regions.

    (Source: China Daily)