Apple has announced it will donate 7 million yuan (US$1m) to the China Poverty Alleviation Foundation, in order to help local relief efforts in China’s Sichuan Province following Tuesday’s powerful earthquake.

Twenty people have so far been confirmed dead and 431 injured after a 7.0 magnitude quake hit Jiuzhaigou County in northern Sichuan Province, according to Xinhua.

China Poverty Alleviation Foundation announced Apple’s donation on its Weibo microblogging account on Friday, saying the money will go towards saving lives, supporting survivors and rebuilding homes and schools in areas hit by the earthquake.

The Chinese nongovernmental charitable organisation said the US tech giant’s donation was so far the largest donation it had received in terms of its Jiuzhaigou earthquake relief work.

Apple said in the announcement that it was saddened by the earthquake and wanted help the relief work as the company has been operating in the Sichuan for many years and has hundreds of employees and thousands of local suppliers in the province.

It is not the first time Apple has donated to disaster relief work in China, the company’s third largest market after the US and Europe.

According to Sina Tech, Apple donated 10 million yuan (US$1.5m) to earthquake relief work in Yunnan Province in 2014, and last year gave 7 million yuan (US$1m) to help the country fight its worst floods in years along the Yangtze River.

Source: gbtimes