(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-31 22:57

BEIJING -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday urged the safeguarding of the production and transport of coal for power generation, in light of the severe weather affecting much of the country.

Hu spoke during an inspection of coal fields in Datong, Shanxi Province and Qinhuangdao Port, through which much of Shanxi's coal is shipped.

Power in much of central and southern China has been disrupted by the winter weather and its ensuing effects on coal transport.

As of Sunday, 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions had suffered blackouts, and power grids in central Hubei and Hunan provinces and southern Guizhou and Guangdong provinces had been seriously damaged.

The blackouts shut down electrified railways in those areas as well.

More than 30 million people have been affected by the power shortages, many of them stranded en route home for Spring Festival family reunions.

The snow, the heaviest in a decade in many places, has been falling in China's east, central and southern regions since January 10, causing deaths, structural collapses, blackouts, highway closures and crop destruction.