BEIJING, Aug. 12 -- China's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 170 million yuan (about 23.8 million U.S. dollars) of natural disaster relief funds to seven provincial-level regions on Tuesday.

Since Aug. 9, heavy rainfall has hit areas ranging from Sichuan and Chongqing in southwest China to Jiangsu and Anhui in east China, triggering floods and geological disasters.

These funds will support Jiangsu, Anhui, central China's Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou in southwest China and Gansu in the country's northwest in terms of emergency rescue and relief -- including the search for and transfer and resettlement of affected people, screening and emergency measures concerning secondary-disaster risks, and repairs to damaged housing, according to the two ministries.