Shutdown

China deployed half a million soldiers to help restore transport links, power supplies and clear debris as the nation's worst snowstorms in 50 years stranded migrant workers before the Lunar New Year holidays.

The government allocated 126 million yuan ($17.5 million) for emergency relief in the worst-affected areas and boosted food supplies to prevent hoarding, state-run Xinhua News Agency said. The death toll from the snowstorm climbed to 53 people. An estimated 77.8 million people in 14 provinces are directly affected.

``We haven't passed the most difficult time,'' Zhu Hongren, spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, the state planning agency, said today. ``We're facing challenges that are unprecedented in 50 years.''

The army and paramilitary forces deployed to help the relief efforts are the biggest since about 300,000 soldiers were sent to battle flooding at the Yangtze River in 1998. Snow has been falling in eastern, central and southern China for more than two weeks, causing an estimated 22.1 billion yuan in economic losses.

Southern cities including Guangzhou haven't experienced snow fall since China's revolution in 1949. About 600,000 people have been left in the city as rail services connecting it with other provinces were disrupted by snow.

``I'm very sorry that you are stranded and not able to go home earlier'' for the Lunar New Year, Premier Wen Jiabao, using a bullhorn to address a crowd at the Changsha railway station in southern China, said yesterday in remarks broadcast on China Central Television. ``We are doing our best to fix things so that you will all be home'' for the holidays.

More Blizzards

More blizzards are forecast in southwestern China until Feb. 6, according to the Chinese Weather Information Service. It warned state agencies and the population to prepare for severe cold and potential problems from heavy snow in the next 10 days.

China's yuan climbed to the highest since the end of a link to the U.S. currency in 2005 on speculation the snowstorms will exacerbate inflation, paving the way for faster currency gains.

The yuan rose for a sixth day as snow fall destroyed 4.2 million hectares of farmland and strained supplies of food and coal. China is willing to use the exchange rate to help slow inflation, which is double the central bank's annual target.

Production Suspended

Disruptions to traffic and power supplies forced some carmakers to suspend production at plants.

Toyota Motor Corp. will halt production of its Crown sedan and Reiz compact cars in northeastern China's Tianjin city because of the snowstorms, spokeswoman Hiromi Hirooka said by telephone. Honda will halt output at a factory in southern China's Guangdong province, spokeswoman Akemi Ando said.

Ford Motor Co. and its partner Mazda Motor Corp. said they're suspending production in Nanjing in eastern China, where more than a foot of snow has fallen in the most severe storm since 1954.

``We'll try to use future weekend holidays to make up the loss,'' said Kenneth Hsu, spokesman of Ford in China.