China has earmarked 3 billion yuan (about US$423 million) to subsidize infrastructure facilities damaged in the month-long snow and ice disaster in the country's southern regions.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the national economic planner, said on Wednesday it has allocated 1 billion yuan in subsidies to rebuild irrigation systems in some southern provinces.

The move was part of a subsidies package offered by the central government to the disaster-hit areas in the past week.

On Tuesday, the NDRC allocated 500 million yuan in subsidies to local power-grid restoration projects in those areas. This came after it offered 1.5 billion yuan to local governments to repair plants that provide drinking water and sewage treatment.

The snow and ice disaster, which lasted for about one month starting mid-January, caused 111 billion yuan in direct economic loss, excluding losses sustained by manufacturing and mining firms, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in February.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2008)