China firms suffer $9.5 billion in quake damage

BEIJING - Companies suffered $9.5 billion in damage in last week's quake in central China, the government said Monday.Some 14,207 companies in Sichuan province and surrounding areas were damaged by the May 12 quake and 1,387 of their employees killed, a deputy industry minister, Xi Guohua, said at a news conference.Independent estimates have put total losses at up to US$20 billion after lost future output is taken into account.