A 12-member joint working group composed of experts from the World Health organization (WHO) and officials from China's Health Ministry arrived in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous region yesterday on a 10-day tour to see first-hand the SARS control and treatment measures being taken in North China and other disease-hit areas.The experts, who had their body temperatures taken upon arrival at the airport and their hotel, spoke positively of the practice.

Yesterday afternoon, experts listened to briefings on local SARS prevention and control work, which deeply impressed Dr Johan Giesecke, one of the experts.

During their stay in Inner Mongolia, the experts heard about Inner Mongolia's experience in this regard and planned future measures and conferred with local medical workers.The same day, the WHO team visited Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi Province, to see the SARS prevention work being undertaken in Shanxi.

Last Friday the WHO lifted its travel advisory against Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, all in North China.

Yesterday afternoon, Wang Xin, vice-governor of Shanxi Province, briefed the experts on the region's work and future plans for ongoing SARS prevention and treatment.Local government institutions would play a major role in this regard and help rebuild public confidence, she said, while medical workers would conduct more research and studies to fight the disease.The province intended to set up a long-term public health emergency response system, Wang added.

Shanxi Provincial Governor Liu Zhenhua said that his province would fully co-operate with the experts during their stay in the city. Prior to their arrival in Taiyuan, the WHO experts had visited Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Hebei, Guangxi, Anhui, Henan and Tianjin.