President Hu Jintao said Monday that supervision over the use of hefty quake relief fund and materials should be intensified to guarantee they would be exclusively used for what they were intended to.
"We must ensure that the quake relief fund and materials will be veritably used for quake relief and the people affected by the earthquake," Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, told a workshop marking the 87th founding anniversary of the CPC.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Party's grassroots organizations and members who had been honored for their roles in the rescue and relief campaign after the May 12 earthquake. Top leaders Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin and others were also present.
The death toll of the 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake reached nearly 70,000, and more than 18,000 were reported missing Monday. Government relief fund totaled 54.72 billion yuan (about 7.82 billion U.S. dollars), while domestic and foreign donations hit 55.3 billion yuan in cash and goods.
Hu told the meeting that education and supervision of Party members and leading officials in regard to clean governance should be strengthened, the system of punishing and preventing corruption further be improved, and efforts in the anti-corruption drive be increased.
These measures are essential for the Party members and leading officials "to maintain their original political color, and be clean in doing their jobs and behaving themselves," Hu said.
He also promised that officials who "passed tests and showed extraordinary capability in the rescue, relief and rebuilding work" should be promoted to leading positions.
Hu called on all the CPC members to study and practise the great "earthquake rescue and relief spirit" displayed by the local Communist heroes, which he summarized as "all people of one mind", "unity in strength", "fearlessness of hardship", "people first", and "respect for science".
"The spirit was a concentrated display and new development of the national spirit of modern China," he said.
Hu attributed the major achievement of saving lives in the first stage of the earthquake relief campaign to the firm leadership of the Party, stressing that Party organizations at all levels and members played a vital role.
The earthquake relief campaign was a test of the leadership and capabilities of the Party as well as a test for the capabilities of Party organizations and the nature of all Party members, he said.
Now, he said, was the crucial period for achieving the goal of the country's economic and social development as the earthquake relief effort entered into the stage of settling the affected people by restoring normal life and rebuilding homes.
Hu urged the whole Party to display excellence in the earthquake relief, in order to maintain the Party's flesh-and-blood link with the people.
He urged Party organizations of all levels to increase their capabilities for handling emergencies, by establishing and perfecting the working mechanism with concentrated leadership, unified command, sensitivity in response, and high efficiency.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2008)