Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday morning, killing 126 people and injuring 188 others, according to figures released at 19:00 on Tuesday.

The earthquake hit Dingri County in the city of Xigaze at 09:05 on Tuesday, with the epicenter located in the county's Tsogo Township.

Rescue forces from different emergency services have rescued 407 trapped people, set up 14 relocation and resettlement sites, and relocated and resettled more than 30,400 people affected by the disaster.

Municipal-level hospitals in the region are currently treating 28 critically injured patients.

Twenty four medical rescue teams with 568 people and 106 ambulances were dispatched to the region to carry out transfer and treatment work, with all those requiring treatment admitted to hospital.

More than 5,800 pieces of relief supplies, including cotton tents, winter coats and quilts, urgently allocated by the National Disaster Reduction Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration arrived at the quake-stricken area on Tuesday night, with 16,000 more pieces of relief supplies expected to be delivered on Wednesday.

More than 170,000 pieces of urgently needed supplies including tents, beds, quilts, blankets, warm clothing, heating equipment, emergency lightning, and food and water were also urgently dispatched to the affected area.

The region's emergency command center on Tuesday also raised the earthquake emergency response to level I, the highest level.

Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

Death toll rises to 126 in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

China has allocated 81 billion yuan (about 11.04 billion U.S. dollars) in subsidies for the country's trade-in promotion for 2025, said an official from the Ministry of Finance in Beijing on Wednesday. Fu Jinling, director of the Department of Economic Construction at the Chinese Ministry of Finance, said the ministry has expanded its subsidy program to cover a wider range of sectors and has also raised the funding standards for areas with significant financial needs and high public interest

"For instance, we will expand the support for equipment restoration to more fields like electronic information, production safety, and facility agriculture. We will expand the categories of home appliance products eligible for trade-in subsidies from eight to 12, and introduce new subsidies for purchasing new digital products such as mobile phones. We also raised the standards for subsidies for new energy public buses and power battery renewals, with the average subsidy per bus increased from 60,000 yuan (about 8,183.53 U.S. dollars) to 80,000 yuan (over 10,900 U.S. dollars)," said Fu.

By the end of 2024, China's central government had exhausted its 150 billion yuan (approximately $20.45 billion USD) allocation for trade-in consumption.

The Ministry of Finance also allocated another 150 billion yuan (about 20.45 billion U.S. dollars) for large-scale equipment restoration to local governments across the country, with the use clearly defined for specific projects.

China allocates 81 bln yuan for 2025 trade-in subsidies