BEIJING - China has allocated 220 million yuan ($35.5 million) from its central budget to help poor people in drought-hit areas, the ministries of finance and civil affairs said Wednesday.

The subsidies will help drought victims in Southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as Northwest China's Gansu province, to ensure supplies of food and drinking water.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and China's disaster reduction authority initiated an emergency response to droughts in those areas on March 28 and sent work teams to the provinces to help with local governments' relief efforts.