LANGFANG, Hebei, May 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top
leader, Hu Jintao, has pledged to maintain sound development trends and
safeguard social harmony and stability, stressing: "Focus on the current
earthquake relief, on one hand, and economic and social development, on the
other."
The president and general secretary of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) Central Committee made the call during his Sunday visit
here to inspect two local companies that make pre-fabricated housing.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd L)
talks with a worker during his inspection at the Langfang Yazhi Integrated
House Co., Ltd. in Langfang, north China's Hebei Province, May 25, 2008.
Hu inspected movable plank house manufacturers in Langfang on Sunday,
urging them to produce as many as possible to meet the needs of the quake
survivors in southwest China's Sichuan Province.(Xinhua
Photo) Photo
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The
president, who visited tent manufacturers in Zhejiang Province three days
earlier, has shown great concern over the resettlement of people affected by the
powerful earthquake that has claimed at least 62,663 lives.
The government has allocated special funds to build 1
million temporary apartments for more than 14 million people whose houses were
damaged in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks over the past two
weeks.
When he was in Langfang, which is close to Beijing,
the president was accompanied by Hebei CPC chief Zhang Yunchuan and Governor Hu
Chunhua. The two factories he visited have received orders to produce 19,500
pre-fab houses within a short time.
During his stay, Hu was shown around so that he could
learn about these temporary dwellings. He thanked the factory workers on behalf
of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council (cabinet), while highlighting
the importance of manufacturing housing for survivors.
"Go all out and try to complete the order early, so
as to support the earthquake relief work with substantial efforts," he told the
workers.
At the end of his trip, Hu met with local officials
and company leaders.
The earthquake caused enormous losses of life and
property, and the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the Central
Military Commission have mobilized all Chinese in the emergency, both military
and civilians, the president said.
Saying it was a difficult, urgent task to get all the
affected people properly re-settled, Hu urged the factories to overcome all
difficulties to complete the contracts and give top priority to quality.
He also called for strenuous efforts to get the homeless re-settled as soon as possible and urged government departments at all levels to ensure the supply of raw materials, parts and finance to housing contractors.
HANGZHOU, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tent makers are going all out to produce urgently needed temporary shelter for the millions left homeless by the May 12 earthquake.
"We are now racing against time," said Yang Baoqing, board chairman of Zhejiang Taipusen Leisure Goods Co., Ltd. in eastern Zhejiang Province. Full story
BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao visited two tent manufacturers in east China's Zhejiang Province on Thursday, urging them to produce as many as possible to meet needs of the quake survivors.
Since the massive earthquake destroyed many houses, and reconstruction would take time, tents would become makeshift shelters for homeless people in these regions. Full story
BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday again called on international community to provide tents first among relief donations to its quake-hit Sichuan Province, saying approximately 3.3 million tents are needed.
So far 400,000 tents have been transported to the quake-hit areas, which were far from enough, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a regular press conference. Full story
