February 14, 2008 -- Chinese insurance companies have reported more than 1 billion (US$139 million) in payments to the victims of the recent snow disaster in southern China, according to the state-owned China Daily newspaper. Some 90 percent of the payments went to cover property losses, the newspaper reported, citing an official report from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. There were a total of 800,000 claims filed, more than half from the hardest-hit provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Anhui.