Speech by Cao Kangtai

Ladies and gentlemen,

One month ago, a devastating earthquake happened in Wenchuan and caused heavy losses to the lives and property of the people in disaster-hit areas. We are all in deep sorrow.

Right now, the rescue work after the earthquake has stepped into a new stage and the post-earthquake reconstruction is being conducted. The reconstruction work has a tight schedule and the task is very heavy. This work will cover a wide range of issues and involve a lot of industries, and a variety of things need to be planned and coordinated as a whole and all arrangements need to be made in a scientific way. In this case, it is imperative to make special administrative regulations to regulate the post-earthquake reconstruction work. Therefore, the State Council formulated and promulgated the Regulations on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction.

The key reason why the drafting work can be finished in such a short time is that we have received full support and cooperation from the relevant specialized commissions of the National People's Congress, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the relevant ministries of the State Council, and the people's governments of provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Yunnan and Chongqing Municipality. On behalf of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, I'd like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all these organizations and local governments.

The Regulations on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction mainly specify the following contents:

The first aspect is about the guidelines and principles for reconstruction after the earthquake. According to these Regulations, we should adhere to the following guidelines in the work of reconstruction, i.e. putting people first, making scientific planning, making overall plans and taking all factors into consideration, implementing reconstruction plans step by step, relying on people's own efforts with support and help from the government and all sectors of the whole society. Moreover, we should follow the principles of “six combinations” in the work of reconstruction, i.e. the combination of relying on quake-hit areas' own efforts and self-help by engaging in production with support and assistance from the central government and other provincial governments, the combination of government's leading role with public participation, the combination of on-the-spot reconstruction with construction in a new place, the combination of ensuring quality with stressing efficiency, the combination of basing on the reality with taking into account long-term development, and the combination of economic and social development with protection of eco-environment and recourses.

The second aspect is about transitional settlement. After the natural disaster, transitional settlement is the key step to make arrangements for people's lives, set the minds of people at rest, and maintain the public order. It is also the fundamental task that should be accomplished for reconstruction after the disaster. Therefore, these Regulations provide that transitional settlement shall be conducted in such comprehensive manners as combining local settlement with settlement in a non-local land, combining collective settlement with individual settlement, and combining settlement by the government with settlement by seeking help from relatives and friends or by replying on people's own strength. Meanwhile, these Regulations also provide that the government should compensate disaster-affected people who have themselves settled by seeking help from relatives and friends or by any other means. These Regulations also stipulate the siting for transitional settlements, require that proper arrangements should be made for the temporary and basic living of the quake-hit people, stipulate the distribution and use of funds and materials, and require governments at all levels to organize self-help in production. In addition, these Regulations provide that more attention should be paid to the monitoring of secondary disasters, sanitation and epidemic prevention, public security and psychological assistance.

The third aspect is the provisions on investigations and assessments, which are the prerequisite and important basis for formulating post-earthquake reconstruction plans. Scientific and accurate investigations and assessments are decisive, in a sense, to scientific and feasible post-earthquake reconstruction plans. These Regulations specify the organizers and subjects of the investigations and assessments, establish a system for appraisal of the quality of construction projects and their earthquake-resistance capability, and define the requirements for collecting seismic data.

The fourth aspect is the provisions on reconstruction plans, which serve as the basis for reconstruction. In order to guarantee scientific, solemn and authoritative characteristics of reconstruction plans, these Regulations specify the agencies who formulate, examine and approve the plans, and the principles, requirements and procedures for formulating the plans, emphasizing their authoritativeness and solemnness.

The fifth aspect is the provisions on the agencies responsible for reconstruction, clearing of earthquake ruins, protection of ethnic groups' cultural heritage, establishment of earthquake museums, requirements for reconstruction of cities and villages, reinforcement of existing buildings and sitting for reconstruction projects. Also, these Regulations specify the responsibilities of project owners, designers, builders and supervisors in reconstruction, and set forth strict requirements for earthquake-resistance capability of schools, hospitals and other public facilities to be built.

The sixth aspect is that, in order to ensure effective pooling of funds for post-earthquake reconstruction, and intensify the support for reconstruction by policy, these Regulations provide for the ways of pooling reconstruction funds, the establishment of a reconstruction fund, the strict supervision of donations, encouragement of public investments and preferential policies.

The seventh aspect is about the distribution and use of post-earthquake reconstruction funds, goods and materials, supervision, inspection and auditing of construction projects, archival management and offence reporting system. For this aspect, these Regulations provide that temporary residence, funds and materials for transitional settlement shall be distributed and used in an open and transparent manner, and be known to the public regularly; that post-earthquake reconstruction funds shall be used exclusively for such purpose; that donated money and goods shall be used as desired by the donators and be incorporated into post-earthquake reconstruction plans; that donations accepted and the use and management of donated property shall be known to the public; that receipts for donations shall be issued; and that the plans for distribution of funds, goods and materials, and for distribution of houses shall be known to the public after surveys and democratic deliberations.

Finally, these Regulations have a special chapter defining legal liability for violations of these Regulations, so as to guarantee the smooth progress in post-earthquake reconstruction.