BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance and its Ministry of Emergency Management on Wednesday allocated 330 million yuan (about 48.61 million U.S. dollars) from the central natural disaster relief fund to eight provincial-level regions impacted by flooding.

They are Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin, all in the northeast, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan in the southwest, and Shaanxi in northwest China.

With China experiencing its main flood season from late July to early August, vast swathes of the country have been hit by persistent heavy rainfall, triggering floods and geological disasters that have caused casualties and left homes damaged or destroyed.

The funds are designated for emergency rescue and relief operations, with a focus on search and rescue, relocation and resettlement of affected people, emergency response, hazard removal and risk reduction, inspection and rectification of secondary disaster risks, and repair of damaged homes, with all aimed at minimizing disaster losses as much as possible.■