Senior Leader Attends Commemoration of Wenchuan Earthquake

Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, poses for a group photo with performers after a gala event marking the third anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake in Beijing, capital of China, May 11, 2011. [Xinhua]

Senior Chinese leader Li Changchun on Wednesday night attended a gala event in Beijing marking the third anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake.

The gala, featuring songs, dances and poem recitals, hailed achievements made in the course of reconstruction in the earthquake-hit Sichuan Province during the past three years.

The devastating magnitude-8.0 earthquake occurred on May 12, 2008, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, leaving 87,000 people dead or missing.The Chinese government had set the goal of rebuilding the region within three years after the quake.

Official figures show that 37 cities and towns, 2,915 schools, 4,543 km of highways and 26,000 km of countryside roads have been rebuilt so far in Sichuan.

Over the past three years, China has poured in more than one trillion yuan (roughly US$154 billion) and issued a series of policies to assist the reconstruction efforts. Nineteen provincial regions have jointly supported the rebuilding efforts.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, went on stage and greeted participating actors and representatives from the quake-hit areas at the end of the gala.