China allocates more subsistence allowance

China allocated more subsistence allowance for the poor in 2013, with a total fund of more than 156.6 billion yuan (25.8 billion U.S. dollars), Vice Civil Affairs Minister Dou Yupei said on Wednesday. Last year, subsidies for the urban poor totaled more than 72.4 billion yuan, up 13.9 percent year on year, and those for rural poor added up to 84.2 billion yuan, with an annual increase of 17.3 percent, Dou said at a press conference. A total of 79.816 million people were receiving government assistance on regular basis, on which 174.03 billion yuan were spent in 2013. Some 100 million medical grants were issued. According to the vice minister, the central government also allocated disaster-relief funding of more than 10.57 billion yuan last year, with 12 million people relocated from areas hit by earthquakes or floods.