On the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee, another $2 million in emergency relief has been granted for earthquake victims in Xinjiang.

This brings the total grants for implementing relief projects in the autonomous region to about $3 million to date. A grant of $921,000 was made last month.

The newly approved grants were made to World Vision ($1.5 million) and the Association of Chinese Evangelical Ministry ($500,000).

The committee will ask the two organisations to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after their relief projects have been completed to ensure that the money is used for designated purposes.

The Disaster Relief Fund was established in December 1993 to provide emergency disaster relief in places outside Hong Kong.