CHINA Vanke Co received the go-ahead yesterday from its shareholders to contribute up to 100 million yuan (US$14.4 million) to help resettle homeless people and also toward restoration and reconstruction works following the devastating May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province.

A total of 209 shareholders, representing 27.64 percent of the company, attended the meeting, and the plan was finally passed with a 99.8-percent majority.

The 100 million yuan will be spent gradually over the next three to five years as restoration and reconstruction in the quake-hit areas will require much work over a long period of time, the company said.

Specifically, 70 million yuan will be used in Zundao Town of Mianzhu City in the province to build schools, kindergartens, hospitals, temporary homes as well as facilities used for garbage disposal and environment protection. The remaining 30 million yuan will be spent in other parts of the province, officials said.

As of yesterday, the Sichuan earthquake has already killed 69,127 people with 373,612 injured while another 17,918 were missing, the State Information Office said. Donations from within the country and overseas, including cash and quake-relief materials, have exceeded 43.68 billion yuan.

The meeting also saw Chairman Wang Shi apologize unconditionally to the shareholders for his improper remarks that big firms should not donate too much money to earthquake victims and should not be burdened with charity work.

On May 15, just three days after the 8-magnitude quake, Wang wrote on his blog that Vanke's 2-million-yuan donation to earthquake victims was enough, as China suffers frequent natural disasters and donation should be sustainable rather than become a burden to a company.

Vanke also said yesterday it sold fewer homes last month though sales continued to grow. It sold some 583,000 square meters of new homes, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, for 5.34 billion yuan, up 13.4 percent, according to a statement.