Chinese President Xi Jinping said that improving disaster relief is vital for safeguarding the public. (Photo : Twitter)
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged both government officials and the public to help improve the country's disaster relief capabilities.
Xi made the call during the 40th anniversary of the tragic Tangshan earthquake in Hebei Province, China Daily reported. Accor5ding to the president, it is crucial that authorities know how to handle several different disaster relief operations at the same time and not only focus one incident at a time.
He also said that disaster response should gradually shift from relief to prevention, moving from simply trying to reduce damages to addressing the various risks associated with specific disasters.
For this, Xi said that there is a need to establish an effective early warning system to deal with natural disasters, as well as an increased effort to ensure that all infrastructure are able to withstand any type of disaster.
The president also noted that, in order for the measures to be more effective, the legislation that supports them must also be improved. He said that greater attention will be given to streamlining the various disaster response mechanisms to make them more efficient.
Xi also called on the public to also join in disaster relief and mitigation efforts, hailing the people of Tangshan as an example, hailing its citizens for their unity in dealing with the crisis brought about by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the city in 1976, Xinhua reported.
The massive earthquake that struck the city that year is believed to have claimed more than 240,000 lives. However, Xi said that it has not only recovered, but also prospered, due to the combined efforts of Party officials and the citizenry.
