State Grid of China Corp suffered 'severe losses' after storms ripped down power lines and damaged equipment, President Liu Zhenya said in a statement. He said the company was still struggling to restore services in some areas.

The storms, the most severe to hit China in five decades, killed at least 107 people, destroyed 69 million farm animals and wrecked thousands of acres of crops.

The government earlier estimated total damage at 111.1 billion yuan (US$15.5 billion; euro11 billion), with billions more in lost economic activity as steel mills and factories were forced to shut down.

State Grid says it supplies power to 88 per cent of China's territory. Authorities say power might not be restored to all storm-damaged areas until late March.

Snowstorm damage to power transmission equipment blacked out sections of some cities. The storms worsened the impact of a coal shortage, forcing some power plants, steel mills and factories to shut down.

Also Thursday, the National Tourism Administration said the tourism industry lost 7 billion yuan (US$1 billion; euro700 million) in potential revenues over the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Tourism revenues in the seven provinces hardest hit by snow were down 30 per cent from the same holiday week last year, Xinhua said, citing the administration's director, Shao Qiwei.

Some 300,000 travelers in tour groups have cancelled trips since mid-January, the agency reported. -- AP