Chinese President Hu Jintao, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, issued an important directive on February 10, urging the PLA to continue to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction in the disaster-stricken areas on the basis of previous active participation in emergency rescue and disaster relief, and strive to make still greater contributions to winning a complete victory in combating natural disasters and providing disaster relief.

　　The General Staff Headquarters and the General Political Department of the PLA jointly issued a notice on February 11, which stressed that the related troops must actively participate in the post-disaster reconstruction in the disaster-stricken areas in compliance with the important directive of President Hu Jintao, and the Party committees and leading bodies at all levels of the troops stationed in the disaster-stricken areas must guide the troops hit by the disaster to do a good job of self-recovery.

　　Since the joint notice issued by the General Staff Headquarters and the General Political Department of the PLA on February 11, the Nanjing Military Area Command, the Second Artillery Force, the Chengdu Military Area Command, the Guangzhou Military Area Command and the Armed Police Force have actively organized their officers and men to support the disaster-stricken areas to do rush repairs of power grid and take part in post-disaster reconstruction. By 18:00 on February 12, the PLA and the Armed Police Force accumulatively sent out 667,000 persons/times of officers and men, and 1,882,000 persons/times of militiamen and reservists.

　　While taking part in emergency rescue and disaster relief efforts, the officers and men also take an active part in the activities of medical aid, poverty relief, and showing compassion for disaster victims by making donations. Troops stationed in disaster-stricken areas have dispatched 100-odd medical groups to 40 communication hubs along the Beijng-Guangzhou Railway and the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, etc. to provide urgently needed medical service to drivers and passengers. So far, the PLA and the Armed Police Force have organized some 200 batches/times of medical groups to villages and towns to provide free medical service to the people in disaster-stricken areas and help them tide over the most pressing need.

　　(Feb 13, PLA Daily)