Where is China's flood relief fund flowing?

topic:	Good Governance
located:	China
editor:	Wincy Ng

In July, China was hit by severe flooding, affecting over 16 million people and resulting in 142 disappearances. Triggered by typhoons Doksuri and Khanun, the disaster flooded fields and trapped residents in China's northern and northeastern regions. After the immediate concern for those affected, attention turned to China's flood relief funding and where it was being allocated.

"Together with the funds already allocated, the central government has earmarked 7.74 billion yuan for flood control and relief since the beginning of this year's flood season." The authority announced in mid-August.

Donations and materials from large enterprises, including Tencent and Jingdong, exceeded 500 million yuan outside government funding. When calls for contributions from the Beijing government and the Red Cross Society of China were unmet, some were dissatisfied when they found out the government was providing 10 million aid materials to support Sudan, where the armed conflict happened.

"I will not donate to the Red Cross Society of China or China Charity Federation; they did not provide details after collecting the funding [...] if the country [lacks] money, why did they build mobile cabin hospitals in Jilin? Why did they support African countries?" commented a netizen on Weibo, one of the Chinese famous online networking tools.

Growing discontent was widespread as the public lost confidence in the rescue work donation. Henan province experienced the 'thousand-year' floods two years ago, affecting at least 14 million people and causing nearly 400 deaths, including the tragedy where 14 passengers died while trapped in a flooded underground railway in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital. Others were moved or required rescue as heavy rains led to extensive collapse of houses and landslides.

The provincial audit report shows that over 200 disaster reconstruction funding projects in 2021 experienced delays, low-quality execution, corruption or bribery.

"In the past two years, there have been problems in the use of nearly 10 billion yuan of post-disaster reconstruction funds." stated the Chinese media. The provincial audit report stated that since June 2022, 274 public officials were linked to "major disciplinary and illegal issues", while only half have been held accountable. It mentioned that some leaders take advantage of their power and strong position for personal gain in business activities such as bidding for engineering projects.

The audit raised suspicions about whether the flood relief funds have been used correctly or whether the government fully used them for rescue work. "It is clear that the money belongs to the state and the people, and how it is used must be investigated thoroughly." commented the Chinese Communist Party in its official newspaper.

Image by Nuno Alberto.

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