Chinese Vice Premier orders reconstruction plans for Qinghai quake zone

BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said Monday the government would promptly draw up and implement reconstruction plans for the area in northwest China's Qinghai Province that was hit by a strong earthquake on Wednesday.

"We must make reconstruction schemes and timetables based on scientific assessment and good planning, and carry them out as soon as possible," Hui said at a State Council, or Cabinet, meeting in Beijing.

He said the reconstruction work was demanding and urgent as the quake zone was economically underdeveloped and lay in an ecological preservation zone on the cold Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The State Council had approved the establishment of a work group to coordinate the reconstruction, he said, without giving details.

Hui instructed officials to firstly work out overall guidelines and policies to set priorities, requirements and timetables.

He told them to promptly make both overall and specific plans, which should be published after consulting with the public, and to enlist public help in rebuilding the quake zone.

At the meeting, Hui also urged continued relief efforts to restore normal life and order in the quake zone.

As of Monday, the death toll had climbed to 1,944 and 216 people were still missing.