Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called for cooperation and mutual assistance throughout society, including concrete and strong support to SARS patients, medical workers and SARS-stricken areas.

All levels of Party and government organizations need to respect the laws of science and rely on scientific measures in the various aspects of SARS treatment, prevention and control work, Hu told Monday's session of the Party Central Committee's Political Bureau in Beijing.

Chinese scientific workers should play active roles in the drive against SARS by utilizing the power of science.

A proposal issued jointly yesterday by the Ministry of Science and Technology and other education and scientific departments said the SARS epidemic poses a new challenge for scientists. It is the duty of scientific workers to defeat the disease by using a variety of scientific resources.

Decisive measures must be taken urgently to check the spread of SARS, said the joint proposal. Scientific and technological departments at all levels were urged to spare no effort to come up with practical suggestions regarding the collection of epidemic information, cutting off the sources of infection and calming the general public.

Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao yesterday confirmed that Japan will provide 205 million yen (US$1.7 million) of medicine and medical instruments to support China's effort to contain SARS. He said the Chinese Government is grateful.

In another development, the Ministry of Justice yesterday decided to postpone the announcement of arrangements for this year's judicial examination "due to the special situation brought about by the SARS outbreak in some parts of China."

(China Daily April 30, 2003)