China tells banks to support quake-hit areas

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Monday ordered commercial banks in areas affected by last week's devastating earthquake to contribute to aid efforts by ensuring that wiring of relief funds and other services are processed quickly.

The notice, by the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, underlines the challenges many survivors of the quake will face in eventually trying to rebuild their lives, as even accessing their savings could be difficult.

Urging banks to set up temporary branches in places where their permanent ones are unsafe or have been destroyed, the agencies said that people who have their national identity cards but have lost their savings books will be allowed to initially withdraw up to 5,000 yuan ($720).

They added that banks should give preferential access to loans for industries and companies affected by the disaster, including in the power, communications, road and rail sectors.

"Banks need to adjust their resources and prioritize ensuring that there is credit available for the production and transport of the goods urgently needed for relief efforts," they said.

The agencies added that banks must not penalize individuals or firms affected by the quake for missing loan payments.

The central bank last week said it would exempt banks in quake-stricken areas from the latest increase in reserve requirements, which was announced just after the earthquake hit, according to local media.

China said on Monday that direct economic losses from the earthquake would amount to about 67 billion yuan in Sichuan province alone, stemming from damage inflicted on more than 14,000 businesses in the province.

Authorities raised the death toll from the quake to more than 34,000 on Monday.

($1=6.9753 yuan)

(Reporting by Jason Subler and Zhou Xin; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Alex Richardson)