HOHHOT, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Monday stressed the importance of increasing anti-drought efforts and called for more measures in disaster prevention in northern China.

    Hui, who is also chief of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, made the remarks during his three-day inspection of China's northern Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which had suffered from drought last month.

    He called for more efforts to fight against the drought, as the drought-hit areas have been important to the country's grain and livestock production, and it was a critical time of the year for farm production.

    He also called for the construction of more anti-drought facilities and better technologies to offset the damages.

    Major parts of Heilongjiang and the northeastern part of Inner Mongolia had seen highest average regional temperature in May since 1951, while average precipitation in the same area last month hit record low during the same time.

Special report: China fights worst drought in 50 years