CHINA’s government estimates it will cost $147 billion (€99.3bn) to rebuild from the massive earthquake that struck the central part of the country in May, according to state media.

Parents whose children died or were disabled in China's devastating earthquake will be allowed to have more children after lawmakers in the hardest-hit province waived strict family-planning controls, state media reported today.

Chinese quake rescuers struggled with flooded rivers and dams in danger of collapse threatening to add to the devastation today.

China’s earthquake death toll has passed 60,000 and could rise to 80,000 or more, Premier Wen Jiabao said today as he and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon visited the disaster area.