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President Hu Jintao arrived in Mianyang, a city in quake-hit southwestern Sichuan Province, after a flight from Beijing on Friday morning. He will also visit troops and medical workers who are engaged in around-the-clock relief efforts in the hardest hit areas.
The president left Beijing for the disaster area Friday morning, to console the victims and inspect the rescue and relief work. During the flight, Hu consulted a map and carefully assessed the quake damage and the progress of relief work with others aboard the plane.
Hu Jintao said "After several days of hard work, the relief effort has been comprehensively launched, and is proceeding in a forceful, orderly and effective way. However, the challenge is still immense, the task is still arduous and time is pressing. Although the golden relief time -- the 72 hours after an earthquake occurs -- has already passed, saving lives is still the top priority of our work. We need to make greater efforts in treating the injured, restoring transportation links, telecommunications and power supply infrastructure in quake-stricken areas, and we must ensure basic living conditions for local residents. Currently, quake relief work has entered into the most crucial phase. We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts."
After a two hour flight, President Hu Jintao arrived in Sichuan, the quake-hit area. At 10:30 a.m. Friday, Hu Jintao's plane landed at the airport of Mianyang City.
Upon his arrival, Hu Jintao held talks with Premier Wen Jiabao, who has been in the disaster-hit area since Monday, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and vice chairman of the Central Military commission Guo Boxiong at a meeting room in the airport. They together discussed the situation and how to carry out further relief work.
After the meeting, the president traveled by automobile to Beichuan county, the worst hit area during the quake.
