President Hu raises "quake relief spirit" banner for nation

Source: Xinhua | 10-09-2008 08:36

BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao on Wednesday urged China to carry on the spirit of unity, courage, "people first" and scientific thinking that characterized the May 12 earthquake relief effort.

At a ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to honor outstanding organizations and individuals for their contributions to the rescue and relief work, Hu said the spirit should be promoted among the Communist Party of China (CPC) members and the public.

This would help advance the sound and rapid economic and social development.

He said that in face of the major disaster, the CPC Central Committee had listed quake relief as the most important and urgent task for the Party and country as soon as possible.

Quake relief headquarters under the State Council had been set up and a system to coordinate the military and local governments had been established to mobilize the nation to advance the quake relief and reconstruction.

"We organized the fastest quake relief work with the most people mobilized in China's history, saved as many as possible lives and minimized the losses from the disaster," Hu said.

The 8.0-magnitude quake was the most destructive one since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, with more than 30,000 aftershocks, affecting 500,000 square km over more than 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Gansu, Shaanxi and Chongqing.

It was felt in 417 counties, 4,667 townships and 48,810 villages. It left 69,227 dead with 17,923 still missing. About 15.1 million people were displaced, Hu said.

Direct losses exceeded 845.1 billion yuan (124 billion U.S. dollars) as infrastructure was destroyed and industrial and agricultural production was affected, causing major environmental damage.

Party committees, governments, grassroots cadres and the people in quake-hit regions had responded quickly to the devastating quake, making the utmost effort to help themselves and others.

Hu praised the 146,000 troops, armed police, reservists and police which had been mobilized for the anti-quake work, describing them as the "main force" and "commandoes."