The earthquake in Sichuan province caused heavy losses in life and devastated the local economy. The government should make good use of social power in rescue and assistance work, says an article in China Business News (excerpts below).

The mobilization system of the Chinese government and army is quite efficient. But society has a greater determination than ever before to take part in rescue and assistance work. Individuals, enterprises and social organizations have helped the army and government in rescue projects resulting from natural disasters before.

So the new challenge is to translate this strong desire into concentrated, practical and efficient ways of actually helping.

Authorities should schedule and plan operations according to the needs of the earthquake victims. The most urgent requirements are for trained rescuers, doctors, medicine, food and water. Social organizations, enterprises and individual citizens should not compete with rescue and search operations but they may have a real role to play in reconstruction efforts.