The government will increase the reserve of relief materials, both in variety and amount, next year to be prepared to help at least 1 million people in an emergency, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday.

China Central Television quoted the ministry as having said that the move is aimed at meeting two very serious natural disasters at the same time.

Warehouses will be built in central and western China, including Kashgar and Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Golmud in Qinghai province to store more State-level relief materials.

Water purifiers and emergency lights will be included as relief materials for the first time.

The moves come after unprecedented blizzards lashed eastern and southern China during Spring Festival and the May 12 earthquake. The blizzards killed at least 129 people, disrupted power supply and transport, and caused a direct economic loss of 150 billion yuan ($22 billion). And the quake left up to 80,000 people dead or missing, and destroyed or damaged a huge number of houses.

Emergency trains

The Ministry of Railways yesterday asked the 18 regional railway bureaus to keep 500 diesel locomotives and enough drivers as stand by to run trains within an hour of receiving orders during emergencies.

The arrangement will prevent the national railway network from breaking down in case of a power cut.

During Spring Festival, blizzards and sleets damaged electric wires, forcing power supply to be cut in provinces such as Hunan. That halted train services on the north-south trunk and left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.