China has conferred the title of "Central Enterprises' Model Workers" on six workers who died in the effort to resolve difficulties caused by the recent severe weather.

The Ministry of Personnel (MOP) and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) on Monday signed an order to honor the six who lost their lives amid the unusually severe snow, ice and cold.

They were Cao Xianglin, Xiao Jianhua, Luo Haiwen, Luo Changming, Zhou Jinghua, all from the Hunan company of the State Grid, and Liu Huansong, who worked for the Guangdong company of the South Grid.

"As I face you here today, I cannot find enough words to express my condolences. Please accept a bow from me," Premier Wen Jiabao told the families of Luo Haiwen, Luo Changming and Zhou Jinghua as he bowed to them on Jan. 29 when he first visited disaster-stricken Hunan Province.

On board a train to Chenzhou City in central Hunan for his second visit, Wen said that all Chinese had the faith, courage and ability to overcome the impact of the natural disaster.

State-owned enterprises, including those in the communication, coal, electricity and transportation sectors, have gone all out with disaster relief work.

The full impact of the weather crisis is still being tallied, but the weather affected 19 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, toppled 223,000 homes and damaged another 862,000, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Scores of people have died in snow-related accidents, according to reports from provinces and regions.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)