Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party
of China (CPC) Hu Jintao visited Tangshan, north China, a city
rebuilt on the ruins of a catastrophic earthquake 30 years ago in
Hebei Province, on July 28-29.
On Friday night President Hu visited the city's sanatorium where
people who became paraplegic?as the?result of?the
earthquake. He met with sanatorium management and extended his best
regards to children and adults there.?
On July 28, 1976, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake leveled the
industrial city of Tangshan killing 240,000 people and seriously
injuring over 160,000 others.
The sanatorium, built by donations from people from all walks of
life, has a special name -- "The Recovering Village". About two
weeks ago more than 40 village paralytics wrote to President Hu
asking?him to?visit Tangshan and "listen to what the
paralytics have to say from the deepest of their hearts."
In the meantime, children from the "Little Doctor" kindergarten
also wrote a letter to President Hu inviting him to listen to the
stories made up by them. Together with the letter was a drawing by
the kids of blue skies, flowers in blossom, little birds flying
around, high buildings and children playing happily.?
During the visit Hu called on the 55-year-old village chief Yang
Changlu. Yang told the president that the paralytic people had a
good life in the sanatorium and many had learned skills such as
lock repairing and key-making.
"Your strong spirit is truly respected," Hu commented.?
The president noted that 30 years ago the earthquake had turned
the city into ruins. The people in Tangshan had worked assiduously
to rebuild a new dynamic city. He was pleased to see those who had
been injured in the earthquake were well taken care of and that a
new generation of Tangshan residents was growing up happily.
Earlier Friday, President Hu placed a basket of flowers at the
Earthquake Monument in downtown Tangshan. During his stay in the
city the president met with representatives of the rescue teams and
those building the new Tangshan. He extended great respect to them
on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. He
urged them to make every possible contribution to building the new
Tangshan.
Hu also told local government and Party committee officials to
continue assisting people who'd been injured in the earthquake.
During his tour the president visited the Caofeidian Industrial
Zone where a giant steel complex is to be built jointly by the
Shougang Steel Group, which is moving out of Beijing for
environmental reasons, and the Tangshan Steel Company.
Hu urged those involved to build the industrial zone into a
model for such developments under the guidance of the Scientific
Concept of Development.
In a visit to the Fengliusha Village he showed great interest in
rural development. He called for respect for the wishes of farmers
and serious efforts to assist resolve their difficulties.
The president urged officials of Tangshan City and Hebei
Province to earnestly carry out central government's policy of
macroeconomic regulation, make active adjustments to the local
economic structure and investment mix, curb excessive growth in
fixed asset investment and achieve high-quality and efficient
economic growth.
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2006)