Premier spending Lunar New Year Eve in quake-hit Sichuan

By Fu Jing (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-25 09:55

Premier Wen Jiabao was in quake-jolted Sichuan province Sunday to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year eve by consoling the people surviving the May 12 earthquake.

This is the seventh time for Wen to visit Sichuan after the devastating quake in which about 70,000 people died. Wen is scheduled to start his European tour shortly after comforting those people losing their beloved, or being injured, or losing property in the quake.

The person who knew Wen's schedule in Sichuan said that Wen is to visit Deyang and Mianyang Sunday. The two cities are along the Sichuan's economic corridor but were severely hit by the quake. Wen arrived in Sichuan Saturday.

Deyang was an economically fast-growing city but the quake has slowed its economy growth to one percent in 2008. For the whole province, the economy grew at around nine percent in 2008, down from 14 percent in 2007.

Currently, post-quake recovery, which is expected to involve one-trillion-yuan (US$146 billion) investment in the coming three years, is under smooth progress. And all the quake-hit farmers will be moving into new homes by this September and about 70 percent of key post-recovery projects are expected to complete by the end of this year.