A web-based donation system for the May 12 quake was put into use for a more transparent public supervision on domestic and overseas contributions, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Thursday.

Developed by Beijing Miracle Hi-Tech Ltd., the website (www.donation.gov.cn) can provide such services as donating online and making donation enquiries. It also allows donors to check the use of their money or goods and download certificates for their donations.

Netizens' checks on each donation are also permitted by the system.

Presently more than 80,000 records of cash donations received by the ministry had been input to the system.

Chen Min, a ministry senior official, called for local governments to use the system for a more transparent administration of donation affairs.

According to the ministry, domestic and foreign quake donations had reached 58.6 billion yuan in cash and goods by Thursday noon. Of this, 22.2 billion yuan had been forwarded to quake-hit areas.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2008)