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China's post-quake relief, reconstruction impressive

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-10 14:34

BRUSSELS - The mechanism China has put in place for post-earthquake relief and reconstruction is impressive, Deputy President of the Belgian House of Commons Andre Flahaut said.

In an interview with Xinhua ahead of the 2nd anniversary of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan province, on May 12, 2008, Flahaut said the capacity China has demonstrated in the relief and reconstruction immediately after a recent major quake in Yushu, Qinghai province is equally impressive.

"China is a vast country, and the natural disasters have prompted the authorities to react by putting in place a relief mechanism tailored to its own needs," said Flahaut, who is also former Belgian defense minister.

"The mechanism effectively helped China manage the relief work in the immediate aftermath of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008."

"In addition to that, China designed a holistic set of plans to guide the reconstruction work. I think other countries can learn a lot from this," he added.

Aid flowed to the quake-stricken area as China mobilized vast resources from across the country to help the victims of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that left more than 87,000 dead or missing and cost 800 billion yuan ($117 billion) in property losses in 2008 in Sichuan and neighboring provinces.

In early two years after that earthquake, China has invested 654.5 billion yuan ($96.3 billion), or 65.5 percent of the planned reconstruction investment, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in a government report in March.

The relief mechanism was again put to work after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake on April 14 that killed more than 2,000 in the northwestern Qinghai province.

"The Chinese government responded quickly, with the army and professional rescue workers soon sent to the quake-hit area. Both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao rushed there and the local government soon started designing a reconstruction plan. Really impressive," Flahaut said.