China announces US$700 million snow disaster fund for farmers as company losses rise

China announced a 5 billion yuan (US$700 million; euro500 million) fund Friday to help farmers recover from devastating snowstorms as more steel mills cut production due to lack of power and companies' losses mounted.

Total damages have risen to 53.8 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion; euro5 billion) from storms that have destroyed crops, ripped down phone lines and disrupted trains and trucking across central and southern China, the government said.

The central bank "will urgently create a 5 billion yuan farm support account, focusing on helping disaster lending by small institutions in disaster areas," it said on its Web site.

Commercial …