Disaster prevention needs more attention - official

China and EU countries should place more emphasis on disaster risk management and be prepared for "the unknown", including a biochemical terrorist attack, urged a senior official from the European Commission.

Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner responsible for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response, called on China and EU member states to treat disaster preparation and prevention as a vital part for their disaster management strategy.

She made the remarks when giving the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the second workshop on crisis management for government leaders in China on Wednesday.

Countries should also have a plan for the possibility of a terrorist attack, which could involve biochemical weapons, Georgieva said, adding that there is slim chance for that to happen but preparations should be made.

The commissioner also said that human beings' response capacity to natural disaster is still limited despite their high frequency due to climate change.

Natural disasters in the past decades have claimed tens of thousands of lives and led to economic losses of about 150 billion Euros ($202 billion), she said.

As China's population and GDP has grown immensely in the past 30 years, more people and wealth need to be protected in the event of a disaster, she stressed.

China should improve its disaster prevention and beef up international cooperation in disaster management, she added.

The three-day workshop, held by the Chinese Academy of Governance in Beijing, is a part of the EU-China disaster risk management project.