The Red Cross Society of China ( RCSC) awarded outstanding individuals and organizations Tuesday for their rescue effort after the Indian Ocean tsunami last December.

The Red Cross in Beijing and 15 provinces were awarded "best organizers," 15 companies including China National Petroleum Corporation and seven individuals including CEO of Netease.com Ding Lei were honored as "special contributors."

Twenty-five media groups including China Central Television were awarded "special supporters," and the Red Cross Society of Hong Kong and Macao were given "special awards."

Rescue of tsunami-hit countries was the largest in scale and best fulfilled international rescue performed by RCSC said President of RCSC Peng Peiyun.

As of May 20, RCSC has received 400 million yuan (about 47.8 million US dollars) for aiding tsunami-hit countries and has provided money and goods at worth of 180 million yuan (22 million US dollars) to 11 victimized countries, he said.

In addition, the Red Cross Society in Hong Kong has collected 660 million Hong Kong dollars, the Red Cross Society in Macao has collected 40 million Macao patacas, and the Red Cross organization in Taiwan has collected 540 million Taiwan dollars of donation for tsunami rescue.

RCSC has begun participating in the reconstruction of the tsunami-hit countries and will spend the donation on construction projects, Peng said.

Source: Xinhua