BEIJING, Aug. 1 -- Chinese authorities have allocated 378 million yuan (about 53 million U.S. dollars) to flood relief efforts in the country's southern and northern regions, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Thursday.

The funds, jointly earmarked by the MOF and the Ministry of Emergency Management, are aimed at supporting flood relief in the provinces of Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu.

The money will be used to fund emergency rescue and relief work, focusing on search and rescue operations, relocation and resettlement of affected people, evacuation and disaster relief, and repair of damaged houses, in order to minimize casualties.

The MOF requested relevant localities to promptly allocate the funds to the disaster-hit areas, while keeping abreast of the arrangements and needs of emergency relief funds in disaster-hit areas and enhancing supervision of the funds.