A senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called for efforts to improve the welfare of local residents in Sichuan Province, which was hit by a massive earthquake in 2008.

During his four-day inspection tour in Sichuan, Li Changchun, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, praised the local government for achievements made in post-quake reconstruction and called on local authorities to continue with their reconstruction efforts.

On May 12, 2008, an 8-magnitude earthquake rocked Wenchuan in Sichuan Province, leaving more than 80,000 people dead or missing.

In addition to quake-hit areas, Li, who ended his tour on Tuesday, also visited the provincial broadcasting center, urging efforts to promote the influence of a Tibetan language television channel.

An estimated 2.4 million people live in the Khams Tibetan dialect areas, including Sichuan's Garze and Aba, Qamdo in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Deqen in Yunnan Province, Yushu in Qinghai Province and Gannan in Gansu Province.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2011)