China's central bank opens 'green lane' for allocating funds to quake-hit Xizang

BEIJING, Jan. 7 -- The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, has opened a "green lane" through which State treasury funds can be quickly allocated for disaster relief in the Xizang Autonomous Region following an earthquake there.

The central bank said that the sub-treasury in the city of Xigaze in Xizang has allocated 400 million yuan (about 55.6 million U.S. dollars) of disaster relief funds to Dingri County and Lnaze County as of 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Commercial banks, including the Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China have deployed service vehicles to provide mobile financial services at quake-hit areas. Many local banks have also set up special counters to provide fast-tracked cash services in response to the quake.

A total of 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri on Tuesday morning.

The earthquake struck at 9:05 a.m. (Beijing Time), with the epicenter located in Tsogo Township, Dingri County, in the city of Xigaze.