3:28pm UK, Wednesday May 21, 2008

Beichuan, a Chinese city razed by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck more than a week ago, will be rebuilt in a new location.

China reconstruction begins

Some reconstruction has begun

The devastated city is in Sichuan province, the area most affected by the May 12 tremor.

The country's state-run news agency reported that the government had vowed to rebuild Beichuan, but a new location had yet to be decided on.

China's cabinet has also announced that a 70 billion yuan (£5bn) reconstruction fund would be set up, with state agencies told to cut spending by 5% and redirect the money.

More than 41,000 people have now been confirmed dead following the disaster, but a further 32,000 people remain missing.

On the final day of an official three-day mourning period for those killed by the quake, a woman was found alive after being buried under rubble for nine days.

Xinhua news agency reported that Cui Changhui, whose age was not known, had been trapped in a water diversion tunnel at the Jinhe Hydropower Plant in Hongbai, in Sichuan.

She was taken to hospital with bone fractures in her arm, ribs and lower back.

Another woman, 60-year-old Wang Youqun, was rescued after spending 195 hours under the debris of a temple.

But the miraculous tales of survival have become fewer as rescue team become hampered by heavy rain over the country's south west.

Attention has also turned to finding shelter for the majority of the five million people left homeless.

Stricken areas, mainly in Sichuan, have received 280,000 tents and factories were working around the clock to deliver another 700,000.

Thousands of people continue to sleep outdoors with aftershocks continuing to shake the region and rattle nerves.