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China is Grateful for and Open to the International Relief

China says the country and its people, are deeply grateful, for the international help they received after the deadly earthquake last year.

The statement was included in a white paper, published on disaster prevention and relief efforts, to mark the first anniversary, of the Wenchuan earthquake, as well as the nation's first, Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day.

Both fall on Tuesday.

China's Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, also made the remarks, to mark the 30th anniversary, of international aid to China, and the first anniversary, of international aid, to China's earthquake-hit areas.

He said China still welcomes helping hands from all over the world.

"According to the World Bank, China's GDP per capita was just over 2,000 US dollars in 2007. By last year, China was still elbowed out of the world first 100 economies by this index. So China is still open to international help. We hope more international organizations will understand the real situation in China while we will also try our best to help other countries in need."

Chen Deming said China will allocate more aid, to environmental protection, rural medical service, and education, in underdeveloped regions.

China has received international aid, worth 6.7 billion US dollars, from more than 20 countries and international organizations.

Experts: China Needs Better Disaster Management

China is well on track, to rebuild its quake-hit regions. But the severe natural disaster, has raised one question: How can China, prepare for another disaster of this scale, in the future?
While applauding the existing anti-disaster initiatives, some experts also called for better disaster management, to protect its population and economy.

Our reporter Zheng Chenguang, has the details.

Tuesday marks China's first Disaster Prevention and Reduction Day. The day is aimed at commemorating the May 12th Wenchuan earthquake, and raising the public's awareness about preparing for and mitigating natural disasters.

Jiang Lingling is an anti-disaster expert with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.

While praising its timely and effective response in the wake of last year's earthquake, she also points out that China should continue to improve its disastr relief mechanism.

"Institutional development in China on disaster reduction still has to be strengthened. Because now in China the disaster management function has been divided to different departments. So when disaster is really coming, they found cooperation and response have difficulties to deal with."
Jiang Lingling then calls on China to set up a comprehensive agency to better mobilize and coordinate anti-disaster efforts.
 
Moreover, the expert says preparedness before a disaster is more important than response after it happens. She uses the term of disaster management to elaborate her views.

"Disaster management should be a whole cycle from disaster response, relief, reconstruction, recovery, and then, preparedness, prevention and mitigation. So we cannot work only on two or three points or functions. For example, we only focus on disaster response, relief and reduction. This is not enough."

Jiang Lingling also suggests China taking more structural measures to reduce the negative impact of various natural disasters.

Zhang Qiang, a researcher of China Meteorological Administration, agrees with her.

"With economic development and global warming, we should strengthen our capability of disaster-prevention and reduction. First, we should speed up anti-disaster infrastructure construction, like seawalls and anti-flooding reservoirs. Furthermore, we should strive to improve the ability of disaster monitoring and prediction, like long-term weather forecast."

The researcher warns that economic activity will become vulnerable to a sudden natural disaster if preventive measures are not in place.

The two experts both agree that China should set up a comprehensive disaster management system as soon as possible.