The article finds out that of the 20 million RMB contributed by the Yunnan province finance department for the Yudian earthquake on August 4, 2014, 16 million RMB were directed towards energy relief operations, disaster relief payments to families of the deceased and medical assistance to those injured, while 4 million RMB were set aside for overhead expenses.
On the same day, the Ministry of Finance drew on funds set aside in the fiscal budget for relief efforts to contribute to the Yunnan government’s operations in rehousing displaced residents, medical assistance, health and environment monitoring, counselling support and repairing of highways, communications, electricity, water, agriculture, educational and healthcare facilities, and related infrastructure.
In conducting interviews with the Beijing government, which contributed 100 million RMB to the relief effort, the journalist finds that most provincial governments set aside a fixed amount of their budget for emergency response situations, calculated according to rules set out in national legislation. Besides this, in 2013, the Central Government had set aside 50 billion RMB amounting to 2.47% of its annual budget expenditure for disaster relief efforts.
Besides the rules set out in national regulations, provincial governments in areas frequently experiencing natural disasters have also set out relevant rules in relation to the distribution of aid funds. Guidelines recommend that authorities at the national, county and district levels should factor the need for emergency disaster relief responses into their budgets. In cases where the disaster is on a larger-than-expected scale, the guidelines urge local authorities to strive to obtain state aid.
