Chinese Contingency Command Centre’s Fourth Meeting Relays Hu’s Instructions
Text of report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)
[By reporter Jiang Guocheng: "The State Council Contingency Command Centre for Coal, Electricity, Fuel, Transportation, and Disaster Relief Holds the Fourth Meeting"]
Beijing, 1 Feb (Xinhua) – The State Council contingency command centre for coal, electricity, fuel, transportation, and disaster relief held the fourth meeting on 1 February to relay General Secretary Hu Jintao’s instructions on electric power and coal production and supply as well as the spirit of the State Council’s 207th executive meeting and to make detailed arrangements for doing a good job in replenishing coal and electricity storage. The participants included responsible comrades of major coal producing provinces, key state-owned coal enterprises, electricity generating enterprises, and electric power grid corporations.
Comrade Ma Kai, director of the State Council contingency command centre and minister of the State Development and Reform Commission, chaired and addressed the meeting. He said: Recently, in accordance with a series of important arrangements by the party Central Committee and State Council for providing disaster relief and ensuring coal, electricity, fuel, and transportation, the relevant regions and departments as well as key coal enterprises have taken immediate action to increase the production and transportation of coal and ensure coal supply for electric power generation. They have achieved phased results in this respect. Taken as a whole, the storage of coal for power plants has increased, but the storage level is still a little low. Coal storage in some regions and power plants is still weak. Sixteen provinces (regions) have to limit power supply due to coal shortages, and this has seriously affected normal production and life. As some disaster-afflicted areas have restored their power grid operations and the electric load has increased, there will be a heavier pressure on coal supply for power generation.
He urged the relevant departments, regions, and enterprises to resolutely implement the spirit of General Secretary Hu Jintao’s instructions issued during an inspection of coal production bases and power supply in Shanxi’s Datong and Hebei’s Qinhuangdao. The task of primary importance at present is to make every effort to restore the traffic, transportation, and power supply to normal. In restoring power supply to normal, the key is to make urgent repair on power supply lines, increase coal production, and ensure coal supply for power generation. Coal supply for power generation is an important issue involving economic and social development at present. The relevant departments should fully understand the severe situation in coal supply at present. They should strengthen their awareness about the overall situation and their sense of responsibility, take more effective measures, and earnestly do a good job in ensuring coal supply for power generation.
The meeting pointed out the need to firmly seize the favourable opportunity of diminishing passengers during the Spring Festival period to do a good job in increasing coal supply for power generation, firmly seize the opportunity, concentrate our efforts on carrying out rush transportation, increase as soon as possible the coal storage in key power plants to a reasonable level, ensure the normal supply of power during the Spring Festival and the “two sessions,” and meet the needs of the people’s lives as well as economic and social development.
The meeting urged various coal producing provinces to establish leading groups to ensure coal production and supply during the Spring Festival and implement the coal production plan in each coal mine. There is a need to make overall arrangements for coal production and supply in and outside the province, persist in the idea of taking into full account the overall interests of the entire country, and make contributions to increasing coal production and supply. Coal producing enterprises should earnestly implement the contracts on coal supply, make every possible effort to increase coal production under the perquisite of ensuring safety, and share the country’s worries. While ensuring spring season transportation, disaster relief materials, and the people’s basic necessities, railway and communication departments should treat coal transportation as the focus of their work, full tap the potential in transportation, and make all-out efforts for coal transportation. There is a need to supervise and guide coal ports in north China in loading and shipping coal to power generating enterprises whose coal storage is low in east and south China, to ensure the stable operation of electric power in these regions. Power generating enterprises should take the initiative in cooperating with coal producing enterprises as well as railway and communications departments in coal supply work, form good convergence of resources with coal producing enterprises, and form good convergence of transportation with transportation departments.
The meeting urged power grid companies to promptly gain information about the arrival and storage of coal in their regions’ power plants and conduct balanced adjustments. Various localities should strictly abide by the principle of deciding the power supply volume according to their coal storage, strengthen lateral management over demand, use electricity in an orderly manner, save electricity, and ensure the safe and stable operation of power grids.
The meeting stressed the need for various coal producing provinces, railway and transportation departments, key coal mines and enterprises, as well as power generating enterprises to strengthen point-to-point convergence, form good convergence in the links of production, transportation, and demand, pay good attention to implementation, and do a good job in replenishing the coal storage of power plants.
The contingency command centre’s members are: The CCP Central Committee Propaganda Department, the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Health, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the State Administration of Work Safety Supervision, the State Council Information Office, the China Meteorological Administration, the State Electric Power Regulatory Commission, the PLA General Staff Department, the Armed Police Force, the State Council Contingency Office, the China Power Grid Corporation, the South China Power Grid Company, the China National Petroleum Group Corporation, the China Petrochemical Group Corporation, and the Coal Transportation and Marketing Association, totalling 23 units.
On 29, 30, and 31 January, the contingency command centre held three consultation meetings to study the current situation of snow disasters and make overall coordination for the work related to coal, electricity, fuel, transportation, supply, and disaster relief as well as the specific measures.
Originally published by Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1708 1 Feb 08.
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