The Singapore and US governments announced separately on Monday that they will provide emergency aid to China for its snow-ravaged regions.

Singapore's Ambassador to China Chin Siat Yoon pledged to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 500,000 US dollars in emergency aid.

Chin sent messages of deep sympathy and concern from Singaporeans to the Chinese people over the recent snow havoc in southern parts of the country.

Chin also expressed the belief that the Chinese government and people will be able to overcome the disaster caused by heavy snowfalls.

On the same day, the US embassy told China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the US government will give 150,000 US dollars in emergency aid to China via the Chinese Red Cross.

The US government expressed its wish that its Chinese counterpart and people can triumph over the disaster soon, and sent greetings to them for the upcoming Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year.

The worst winter weather in five decades in China has snarled the country's central, southern and eastern regions over the past three weeks and brought huge economic losses.

Statistics show that the snow has so far killed at least 60 people and forced the evacuation of nearly 1.76 million people. From January 25 to 31, a total of 5.8 million passengers were stranded throughout the railway network and more than 8,000 cargo trains were affected.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)