China bolsters disaster response

China has announced a series of measures aimed at improving its response to natural disasters.

The moves come as the country marks the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake which hit Sichuan province on 12 May last year.

More than 80,000 people are believed to have died in the quake, including at least 5,300 children.

The new policy calls for bigger relief stocks, satellite forecasting, and training for thousands of officials.

The government says more than 70% of China's cities, and more than half the population, are vulnerable to serious natural disasters.

China was widely praised for its rapid response to the Sichuan quake, but there was public anger over what was perceived to be the shoddy building of schools.

Parents who lost their children have already expressed fears they will not be allowed to properly commemorate the disaster's anniversary.

Many parents want to return to the site of the schools where their children died.

But the authorities have previously previously prevented them from doing so.

'Touched'

Meanwhile, details have been released of a letter from the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jibao, to school students in Sichuan. He told them he was touched by a book of paintings they sent him depicting their experiences.

It was called Beautiful Flowers - the words he wrote on a blackboard at the scene of the devastation.

And former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, visited a primary school in the hard-hit Beichuan county, holding an athletics class.

But the lesson was cut short after only five minutes because the school playground was too crowded with reporters and bystanders, the sina.com web portal reported