Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday urged fast and sound development of meteorological work, stressing its important role in tackling global climate change, disaster prevention and sustainable socio-economic growth.

Wen made the remarks when visiting the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), which celebrated its 60 founding anniversary on December 8.

Wen urged the meteorologists to improve accuracy and timeliness of the forecasts of major meteorological disasters, and asked them to strengthen their capabilities in dealing with such incidents and improve contingency plans to cope with disasters.

Quality meteorological services should also be provided to all sectors of society, he said.

Wen told the meteorological authority to beef up research on the impact of climate change on grain, economy, energy, and ecological environment, and work out better response to help the nation meet the emission cut target.

The premier also visited the national satellite meteorological center, a subsidiary of CMA and read the real time meteorological information sent by the satellite. He also observed the meteorological conditions in the quake-hit Sichuan province through video.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2009)