The General Administration of Sport signed an agreement at
Peking University on Thursday to donate 4 million yuan (US$495,000)
in the coming ten years to the "New Great Wall Students-aid Fund"
to assist more than 1,000 university students from very poor
families.
The signing ceremony, for monies raised through the Sports
Lottery, was attended by about 200 people, including Peking
University students who had benefited from the fund in the
past.
The fund was launched by the Chinese Poverty-Relief Foundation
in September 2002 and over 18,000 students in 537 universities
throughout the country have since been assisted. It aims to provide
recipients with 2,000 yuan (US$247) annually.
Previous donations from over 2,000 organizations and individuals
have amounted to 80 million yuan (US$9.9 million).
In order to direct funds to those who need it most, the Sports
Lottery's motto, the lottery administrators said they decided to
assist the poorest students in their education.
One hundred students from Beijing, Shanxi Province, and Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region will become the first group of recipients
of the new donation.
The lottery administrators have been involved in several large
donations, including for public sport buildings in Yunnan Province
and over 2 million yuan (US$247,000) to Project Hope's work in
Anhui Province, but the new funds are for a particularly specific
use and long time.
(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2005)