On December 18, 2023, a magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck Jishishan County, Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province. How is post-disaster reconstruction in Jishishan progressing? How do you balance quality assurance with schedule assurance? What difficulties remain in post-disaster reconstruction?

　　During the National Two Sessions, He Dong, a deputy to the National People's Congress and governor of Linxia Prefecture, gave an exclusive interview to The Beijing News, responding to these questions one by one. He said that post-disaster recovery and reconstruction work is currently being advanced in a vigorous and orderly manner.

　　On Jishishan post-disaster reconstruction

　　Striving to complete the three-year plan in two years

　　The Beijing News: Everyone is very concerned about the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction work following the magnitude-6.2 earthquake in Jishishan County. How is it progressing?

　　He Dong: After the magnitude-6.2 earthquake in Jishishan, under the kind care of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and the command and coordination of the provincial Party committee and provincial government, and with the wholehearted assistance of people across the country and all sectors of society, we pooled the strength of the entire prefecture to swiftly win the "five tough battles" of emergency rescue, transfer and resettlement, maintaining transportation and communications, prefabricated housing construction, and order restoration, achieving a phased victory in earthquake relief. We are now advancing all aspects of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction in a vigorous and orderly manner.

　　The overall goal is: strive to complete the three-year plan in two years, with all reconstruction projects fully starting construction this spring, reconstructed schools completed and opening in the autumn, and affected residents moving into new homes before National Day, so that every affected household lives in a new home, has an income-generating industry, and can enjoy comfortable and convenient public services, enabling production and living conditions and economic and social development in the disaster area to recover to or even exceed pre-disaster levels.

　　First, we will solidly carry out project work and lay a firm foundation for post-disaster reconstruction. We have proactively strengthened coordination with the National Development and Reform Commission and the province, and scientifically formulated a post-disaster reconstruction plan covering 272 projects in our prefecture in fields such as housing, public services, infrastructure, and disaster prevention and mitigation, with a total investment of 13.09 billion yuan. On this basis, we accelerated the formulation of a prefecture-level implementation plan, bringing the total project pool to 374 projects with a total investment of 17.48 billion yuan. Among the 272 projects included in the national plan, 27 have already started construction. At the same time, following the idea of "one greenhouse or one livestock pen per household" for centrally resettled residents, we plan to build supporting projects such as solar greenhouses, steel-frame greenhouses, and standardized livestock breeding communities near each centralized resettlement site. Land transfer has already been completed, and construction will start in March.

　　Second, we will provide meticulous services and guarantees to ensure a smooth transition for residents. We have added facilities such as shower rooms, sewage treatment facilities, video surveillance, charging piles, and streetlights at centralized resettlement sites. Prefecture-level work teams dispatched to the frontline, village-based work teams, township and village cadres, public security police, and firefighters are stationed on the frontline to provide services for affected residents and manage resettlement sites. We have promptly and fully implemented transitional living assistance policies, visited and expressed concern to affected residents and groups with special difficulties before the festival, and organized a series of "Welcome the New Spring" cultural performances to encourage residents to boost confidence and rebuild their homes.

　　Third, we will strengthen targeted assistance to prevent the risk of returning to poverty. We have increased bottom-line security efforts and provided timely assistance to groups with special difficulties such as urban and rural subsistence allowance recipients, people receiving extreme poverty support, and de facto unsupported children. We have further adjusted and optimized assistance resources, and for residents included in monitoring as a result of the earthquake disaster, we have formulated "one household, one policy" assistance plans household by household, ensuring that each household has two or more assistance measures.

　　Fourth, we will carry out spring plowing and preparation and guide residents in self-help production. We have promptly restored spring farming infrastructure, ensured that roads, water channels, water supply, and other facilities are unobstructed, actively transported agricultural materials such as plastic film, chemical fertilizer, improved seeds, and pesticides, completed the repair and reinforcement of pens for affected livestock farms and households, and organized technical personnel to conduct planting technology training in severely affected areas to ensure that spring farming proceeds smoothly. We have strengthened employment support, held 159 skills training sessions in 23 types of work, training 7,919 people, transferred a cumulative 29,000 laborers, provided nearby employment for more than 6,200 people through methods such as work-for-relief, and newly established 625 temporary public welfare posts for earthquake relief, opening up employment channels through multiple measures.

　　On ensuring quality and ensuring progress

　　Pursuing both quality and efficiency and accelerating efforts to win the tough battle of post-disaster reconstruction

　　The Beijing News: In post-disaster reconstruction, how do you balance quality assurance with schedule assurance? What difficulties does post-disaster reconstruction currently face?

　　He Dong: Doing a good job in post-disaster reconstruction is a major political task and a livelihood project that the people eagerly await. Both in terms of progress and quality, it sets higher standards and stricter requirements for our work. We must pursue both quality and efficiency and accelerate efforts to win the tough battle of post-disaster reconstruction.

　　In terms of progress, we have intensively convened meetings of the leading group of the reconstruction command headquarters and special meetings on reconstruction projects, reported work progress weekly, concentrated efforts on resolving bottlenecks and difficult issues, and steadily advanced project planning, demonstration, and preliminary work. We have adopted methods such as green channels and approval with missing documents to compress the time limits for processing required documents as much as possible under the premise of compliance, striving for projects to start construction as early as possible.

　　In terms of quality assurance, we have formulated and implemented management measures for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction projects and management measures for special funds, strictly implemented the "five systems" for projects, strengthened source control of project quality, strictly controlled the quality of design, construction, and materials, organized residents and teachers to serve as quality supervisors and participate throughout all stages of projects, and at the same time worked hard to strengthen discipline inspection and audit supervision to ensure that projects can stand the test of history.

　　With the strong support of the state, the province, and all sectors of society, we have the confidence and determination to complete all established goals and tasks of post-disaster reconstruction and deliver a satisfactory answer to the CPC Central Committee and the people of the disaster area.

　　At the same time, there are also some difficulties and problems, mainly: First, the time for recovery and reconstruction is tight. We plan to complete the three-year plan in two years, but schools, residential housing, centralized resettlement sites, and public service supporting projects are required to be completed by August or the end of September this year. The construction period is very tight and the construction task is heavy, which has brought greater pressure and higher requirements for our project management. Second, there are many hidden dangers of secondary disasters. Linxia Prefecture is located in the transition zone between the Loess Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and has typical plateau mountainous terrain, where natural disasters occur frequently. The prefecture originally had 2,834 hidden geological hazard points. This earthquake triggered and intensified 212, including 199 in Jishishan County, of which 140 are newly added hidden danger points. For these risks and hidden dangers, we still need to continuously strengthen monitoring and improve emergency response capabilities to ensure that no major secondary disasters occur.

　　On support from all sectors of society

　　Thank you to all sectors of society for their help and support to Jishishan

　　The Beijing News: During the earthquake relief process, were there any people or events that left a deep impression on you?

　　He Dong: During the earthquake relief process, our cadres and residents stepped forward and dared to take responsibility. Many people and events left a deep impression on me. For example, there was the director of the village committee of Kangdiao Village in Dahejia Town, one of the villages most severely affected by this earthquake. After the earthquake occurred, I went to Kangdiao Village with other comrades without notifying him. The situation at the time was rather complex and everyone was busy. After I arrived, I happened to meet him patrolling outside with a lamp. He asked what we were doing, and I said I had come to take a look. He then asked which unit I was from, and I said I am the governor of your prefecture government.

　　He looked at me for a long time. At that time, several households in Kangdiao Village had unfortunately lost their lives. I wanted to go see them, and he quickly led me there. We ran to several households, and I saw that the main houses in the courtyards had all collapsed, and the side rooms had collapsed as well. There were two young men who were still in Xinjiang when the earthquake occurred, and their parents died in the earthquake. I went to the temporarily set up tents to express concern, and they were both very strong.

　　During the earthquake relief process, there were many such small stories and episodes. The people of Jishishan County actively cooperated with the government, and firefighters and people from all sectors generously assisted us in overcoming difficulties together. We were very moved.

　　The Beijing News: If you were to say one sentence to people from all sectors who supported Jishishan County from various places, what would you say?

　　He Dong: I am very grateful for the support from all directions across the country after the Jishishan earthquake. Two days ago, I went to Jinan to attend a symposium on East-West cooperation. I also told the leaders of the Jinan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government that your great love knows no bounds and you rushed to help from a thousand miles away.

　　The comrades who came to help Jishishan with emergency rescue or recovery and reconstruction and to transport supplies were excellent. Some comrades spent the night in vehicles without complaint. Without everyone's care, help, and support, Jishishan would not have smoothly completed the ** phase of emergency rescue work. Words cannot express everything. I am very moved. On behalf of our four leading bodies and the 2.4 million people of Linxia Prefecture, thank you. Thank you to all sectors of society for your help and support to Jishishan.

　　Without everyone's care, help, and support, Jishishan would not have smoothly completed the ** phase of emergency rescue work. Words cannot express everything. I am very moved. On behalf of our four leading bodies and the 2.4 million people of Linxia Prefecture, thank you. Thank you to all sectors of society for your help and support to Jishishan.

——He Dong, deputy to the National People's Congress and governor of Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province