Chinese vice premier Hui Liangyu Thursday called on the country's meteorologists to continue improving their services to better serve the society and people with more accurate forecasts of catastrophic weather and disasters.

Hui made the remarks after offering his congratulations to individuals and groups that were honored?in Beijing?Thursday for their outstanding meteorological services on major occasions this year, such as the winter blizzards at the beginning of the year, the May earthquake, the Olympics and Paralympics, and the country's space mission.

He asked the country's weather department to give prominence to weather monitoring and forecasts to come forward with better services and help reduce the damage caused by natural disasters.

"Consultation and analysis of catastrophic weather should be strengthened to make accurate forecasts of such weather and predict their development, in order to make it possible that the public may be warned of the exact situation as early as possible," he said.

He also urged the country's meteorologists to attach great importance to research on climate change. "The impact of climate change on the economy, agriculture, social construction, and environment should be studied, so that the country could act correctly against climate change."

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2008)