The PBC Party Committee Held Emergency Meeting to Arrange

The PBC Party Committee Held Emergency Meeting to Arrange

Earthquake Relief Work

After a major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Wenchuan, Sichuan Province on the afternoon of May 12, the Party Committee of the PBC attached great importance to this natural disaster and immediately organized a fact-finding campaign within the PBC system. At 10 PM that night, Mr. Zhou Xiaochuan, Secretary of Party Committee as well as Governor of the PBC, convened an expanded PBC Party Committee meeting to convey the guiding spirit of the State Council on disaster relief, analyze the disaster situation of the PBC system, and deploy an urgent disaster relief work plan.

The meeting put forward six urgent disaster relief measures for the PBC system:

First, the relevant PBC offices should give all-out support to the disaster relief work arranged by local authorities in earthquake-hit areas, and spare no effort to protect the safety of PBC staff and their family members.

Second, the PBC Headquarters, affiliated institutions and relevant branch offices should immediately activate the emergency plan for relevant business systems, monitor the progress of the quake situation, take measures to prevent derivative disaster of the quake, and ensure the smooth operation of the PBC business systems;

Third, make every effort to maintain the normal operation of payment system and state treasury system. PBC branches should promptly transfer relief funds allotted by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Civil Affairs to relevant financial institutions, and the latter should timely transfer the funds to recipient units;

Fourth, ensure cash supply, and strengthen the protection of cash issuance vaults and issuance funds. Relevant PBC departments and branches should enhance the management of allocation of cash issuance fund on a comprehensive basis so as to ensure adequate cash supply in quake-hit areas. Meantime, branches in quake-hit areas should collaborate with public security and transportation agencies to make the money escort safe.

Fifth, the PBC branches should actively coordinate with local governments, and help arrange credit fund supply for disaster relief and other financial services.

Sixth, all PBC departments, affiliated institutions and relevant branches should implement the emergency duty shift system. During the disaster relief period, the PBC Headquarters and other relevant branches should strictly abide by the leader-on-duty rule, apply an around-the-clock duty shift system, and timely report major and urgent information so as to ensure the smooth implementation of policies and decrees.

The meeting required that, PBC branches and sub-branches in quake-hit areas should consider the disaster relief work as top priority, earnestly implement the deployment plan of the State Council, and make concerted efforts to overcome the difficulties and address the impacts of the disaster.