Shaanxi Province, another earthquake ravaged province, has set up a fund for earthquake relief and reconstruction totaling 300 million yuan ($42.9 million), allocated a subsidy of 40 million yuan ($5.7 million) for the recovery of pig farming and 45 million yuan ($6.4 million) to restore water supply facilities in the countryside.

Industrial sector

The earthquake also exerted severe losses on enterprises in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Chongqing. In Sichuan alone, 20,741 enterprises suffered from a total economic toll of 201.1 billion yuan ($28.7 billion). Dongfang Steam Turbine Works is a state-owned company based in Sichuan's Deyang City. The company suffered from total economic losses of more than 5 billion yuan ($714.3 million). The production base in Hanwang Town was seriously damaged, with most of the buildings collapsed and over 500 workers killed.

Founded in 1966, the company is one of the three biggest manufacturers of gas turbine and wind power facilities in China. After the earthquake, workers quickly repaired the factory housing and production facilities. On May 17, the production of wind power units restarted.

The three cities of Chengdu, Mianyang and Deyang, whose industrial sectors suffered the heaviest losses during the earthquake, account for nearly half of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Sichuan. According to statistics, by June 5, the industrial production capacity of Chengdu had recovered by nearly 91 percent; 579 of the 906 large-scale companies in Deyang had resumed production; 163 of the 793 ravaged enterprises in Mianyang had resumed production and a further 342 enterprises will resume production within three months.

News released from the quake relief headquarters of the State Council shows that by June 6, some 20,009 companies in Sichuan, Gansu, Chongqing and Shaanxi had resumed operation and nearly 4,000 large-scale enterprises had restarted production.

According to the government's plan for the resumption of industry in Sichuan, all wrecked enterprises should begin reconstruction within a year of the quake.

Future development

Li Xianhui, head of the Bureau of the Industrial Sector of Shifang City, said the industrial sector reconstruction plan had been implemented at the end of May. He added that his bureau also hoped to attract investment projects and would introduce advanced technologies and eliminate backward production facilities.