Local governments should promote the spirit of quake relief to carry out reconstruction work and economic and social development, said a senior Chinese official.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said this during his inspection tour to quake-affected Shaanxi and Gansu provinces from Sunday to Thursday that there have been heavy tasks for local governments in terms of relocating quake survivors and rebuilding damaged or destroyed facilities.

He went into tents to ask local people about quake relief supplies and their living conditions, praised soldiers and workers on rebuilding sites, and encouraged students to keep up their studies in temporary classrooms.

He told officials to ensure food, water, clothes and bedding continue to get to survivors, focus on solving housing problems and make scientific plans for reconstruction.

Jia, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also visited several high-tech enterprises in Gansu.

"Although we have gone through the most severe challenge, the country's economy continues to develop in a steady, relatively fast way in general," he said, adding: "We should transfer the spirit of quake relief into the driving force of economic development."

He also stressed maintaining social stability in Tibetan-inhabited regions.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2008)