The country's top disciplinary body yesterday set up a hotline (10-59592947), which people can call to report suspected malpractices in the management and distribution of quake relief.

The hotline will be open 24 hours, said the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the Ministry of Supervision (MOS).

Government funds and donations for the disaster relief have crossed 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion).

The CCDI and MOS urged their subordinate agencies to follow up on the complaints and punish the guilty to strengthen quake relief supervision.

So far, the Sichuan provincial discipline inspection and supervisory departments have punished 41 Party members and officials, including eight at the county-level, for relief malpractice.

Earlier, the CPC's top anti-corruption official, He Guoqiang, had promised to ensure "clean" disaster relief work and punish those found diverting or embezzling funds and supplies.

The CCDI and MOS have issued a special statute on the penalties for malpractice and fraud.

Minor impact on economy

Though a major think tank estimates the direct economic loss because of the quake to be 400-500 billion yuan ($58-73 billion), the impact on the national economy is likely to be little.

The State Information Center, a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission, yesterday said the quake might reduce China's economic growth by 0.1 percentage point.

But that loss could be offset by the huge cost of rebuilding, which could increase the fixed asset investment growth by 1.1 percentage points and help the economy grow 0.4 percentage points faster.

The State Council, the country's cabinet, discussed reconstruction plans at an executive meeting, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, yesterday.

The central government will help reconstruction in the quake-hit areas with measures and policies on fiscal budget, finance, tax, land, employment and agriculture.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2008)