The People's Republic of China, with a population of 1.3 billion people, is by far the most populous country in the world, and has both one of the most dynamic and fastest growing economies, while at the same time very marked disparities in income distribution, health status and other vulnerability indicators. While many view China's hosting of the 2008 Olympics as a sign of its emergence onto the international scene, the people of China still continue to face many economic, environmental and health challenges that threaten their wellbeing. Extreme poverty remains

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today opened the Joint Emergency Stores Warehouse in Brisbane, a partnership between the Australian Government and three humanitarian relief agencies.

The joint arrangement of the facility will lower administration costs, ensuring more aid is delivered to those who need it. The warehouse will contain about 100 tonnes of supplies, valued

Huili county in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, the worst-hit region in Sichuan, registered five more deaths as of 8 am yesterday, raising the death toll to 32 in the province.

The publicity department of the Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, said one more body was retrieved on Sunday evening, taking the death toll to six there.

More than 941,000 people have been affected

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the juncture of Renhe district in Panzhihua and Huili County in Liangshan prefecture at 4:30 pm local time on 30 Aug 2008. According to the China Earthquake Administration, the epicentre was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, at 26.2 degrees northlatitude and 101.9 degrees east-longitude and at a depth of 10 km.

The earthquake jolted Huili and Panzhihua, both in Sichuan, and autonomous prefectures of Chuxiong, Dali, Lijiang and Zhaotong cities, all in Yunnan Province. Kunming, including the capital

The government also decided to forward 10,000 tents to the quake-hit area in Yunnan, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The quake and aftershocks jolted Huili and Panzhihua, both in Sichuan, and the autonomous prefectures of Chuxiong,

Red Cross Society of China swings into action after new tremors cause fresh casualties and damage in Sichaun and Yunnan provinces.

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that jolted southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Saturday 30 August has killed 32 people and injured more than 400 people, according to local authorities.

More than 300 aftershocks were also monitored in the quake zone as of 05:00 on 31 August, some as high as 5.6 magnitude. All affected areas are on the southern end of the fault line that resulted

The woman named Cun Huidong from a village in Yingjiang County, was now being treated in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture Hospital. She was crushed by a fallen wall in the quake and suffered serious injuries in the abdomen.

She was in a state of shock due to much bleeding when being admitted to hospital. Doctors carried out operation

Government officials in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, did not disclose the identities of those killed

Relief efforts are under way.

China's earthquake network recorded two quakes in Yingjiang, a county on the Sino-Myanmar border, on Thursday: one 4.9-magnitude event at 8:20 p.m. and another 5.9-magnitude quake four