HIGH-LEVEL VISIT China’s top legislator Wu Bangguo is greeted by a student while visiting a temporary school at a resettlement area in Dujiangyan, one of the cities worst hit by the earthquake in southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12

Efforts should be made to ensure supplies of coal, oil, gas, electricity and agricultural goods and materials, according to an executive meeting of the State Council on May 28.

It was pointed out at the meeting, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, that the overall supply and demand for coal, oil, electricity and agricultural goods and materials are now in balance, with short supplies in some areas.

Efforts should be made to ensure coal, oil and electricity supplies firstly for the areas ravaged by the May 12 earthquake. On the precondition of work safety, coal production should be resumed as soon as possible in quake-battered Sichuan Province. Electricity transmission equipment and facilities should be repaired and restored as soon as possible to resume power supplies in the quake-hit areas.

Deadly Floods

Fifty-five people died in accidents triggered by torrential rains over the week before May 29 in southwest China, while another 28 were missing and 4,000 stranded by floods.

About 46,000 people in Wangmo County in Guizhou Province were affected, including 11 deaths, eight missing and 14 injured. Hundreds of buildings were buried by landslides or inundated by floods, officials with the provincial government said.

Bumper Harvest

Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai announced that barring disastrous weather conditions, unit production of the nation's summer grain will hit a record high with the total output rising for a fifth consecutive year.

The expected harvest will add to China's grain reserves, which, with this year's output, are considered "more than enough to feed the people," according to Zeng Liying, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Grain.

"China's grain supply will not be affected as most of the quake-stricken areas are mountainous and unplantable," said Wan Fushi, an official with the Crop Production Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, after a 8.0-magnitude quake jolted southwestern Sichuan Province.

Unions Offer Aid

Trade unions throughout China have moved fast to support the earthquake relief work with donations of money and badly needed materials.

By May 22, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions had sent money and materials worth 63.37 million yuan ($9.05 million).

Founded on May 1, 1925, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions now has a membership of 134 million in more than 1.713 million primary trade union organizations.

Protection for Lawyers

China's Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice have jointly issued regulations on the protection of defense lawyers' roles in capital cases to ensure that defendants' legal rights are upheld.

The regulations further standardize lawyers' duties and rights, stating that legal aid institutions must designate lawyers with criminal defense experience in capital cases; that lawyers shall not transfer cases to assistants and must meet defendants before trial.

The regulations also improve death penalty review procedures. For example, they stipulate that if a defense lawyer submits any motions or evidential documents during such a review, the relevant court must formally receive and record them.