Central government requires orderly quake rescue

BEIJING - The State Council General Office has urged relevant authorities and rescue forces to carry out the quake relief work in an orderly manner.

All regions, departments, units and organizations should not organize rescue initiatives on their own and the State Council General Office will coordinate and arrange these works if necessary, the office said in a circular on Sunday.

The public is encouraged to donate for the quake-stricken area in cash, and the donated money will mainly be used for reconstruction and residents relocation purposes, the circular said.

Donations in forms of materials and equipment will be allocated by the civil affairs authorities and transported to the affected area in order, the circular said.

Non-emergency personnel, volunteers and tourists are advised against going to the affected areas.

The circular also called on local rescue headquarters to intensify the coordination among different rescue forces to improve the efficiency of the relief work.

On Saturday, the General Staff Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the PLA General Political Department, jointly issued an instruction, urging the soldiers and officers of the Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC), the PLA Air Force and the armed police forces to resolutely implement the instructions of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

The instruction called on the soldiers and officers to make all-out efforts in rescue survivors and treat the injured people to minimize the quake casualties.

The rescue mission should be carried out in a vigorous and orderly manner, the instruction said, adding that leading officers should work at the front-line to learn the real situation of the affected areas and carefully arrange the rescue work.

The instruction also stressed scientific and efficient rescue and urged to make good use of the professional engineering, medical and transporting troops.

Moreover, the instruction ordered sound logistic and equipment supplies for the rescue forces.

"Rescue troops should ensure their self-sustenance in supplies, and they are not allowed to put additional burden to the local governments and residents," the document said.

As of 4:30 pm Sunday, the PLA Air Force has dispatched 106 planes for rescue missions, including personnel and material transportation.

Moreover, a total of 1,159 soldiers and officers and 171 vehicles from the air force were sent for field rescue operations.

A national earthquake emergency rescue team, which consists of 200 rescue workers, including 21 seismologists and 39 medical staff, have started relief work in the quake zone on Sunday afternoon, the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) said.

However, their plan to reach the Baoxing County, an area that had no communication with outside world, by helicopters had to be postponed due to an unfavorable weather, the CEA said.