Premier Wen said the 8.0 magnitude earthquake has caused severe damage to people's lives and property. Under the direction of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, rescue and relief work is in full swing.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has held a State Council meeting on Tuesday, focusing on rescue and relief work in Sichuan and the economy.

The Premier said currently, rescue efforts face many challenges including reconstructing roads, transporting supplies to remote areas, preventing disease outbreaks, restoring water, gas, and electricity supplies and overcoming shortages of food, water and clothing for survivors.

He said the earthquake left a great number of orphans, elderly people and others in need of assistance.

Premier Wen said despite some uncertainty following the quake, China's economy has remained stable, and the disaster will not affect the pace of development.

The premier outlined three priority areas in the aftermath of the earthquake:

First, rescue and relief work must continue, survivors must be transferred to medical centers as soon as possible, disease prevention efforts must be stepped up and survivors must be given shelter and daily necessities.

Secondly, planning to resume production and begin reconstruction work should start as soon as possible, and be carried out when the time is right.

Under the leadership of the State Council, specialist teams should formulate reconstruction blueprints, with details on implementation.

This should be done after fully considering the local geological structure, resources and environment. The government will set up a reconstruction fund, with a budget of 70 billion yuan for this year. Similar arrangements will be made in the next two years.

Thirdly, economic development should be maintained at a rapid pace with a particular focus on strengthening agricultural production.

Commodity price hikes should be prevented and price controls should be well managed. Transport of coal supplies, as well as electricity and fuel production should be kept stable.

Premier Wen also said efforts should be made to maintain social stability. To save money, governments at all levels should hold fewer conferences and encourage money to be set aside for the quake-hit zones.

And Premier Wen concluded the meeting by saying he has confidence that, under the leadership of the CPC central committee and the State Council, China will conquer all obstacles to overcome the disaster.

(CCTV May 22, 2008)