China's quake-hit province of Sichuan on Friday pleaded for more rescue supplies of tents and mobile houses to shelter more than 5 million quake victims.

Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan made the appeal at the press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council in Beijing Friday.

"We will make best efforts to provide makeshift houses for 98 percent of the homeless within a month, where they can have supplies of drinking water and food," said Li on behalf of the Sichuan provincial government.

The government said it needs some 3 million tents to house the victims displaced by the massive May 12 earthquake.

The Chinese National Meteorological Center predicted Thursday that rains might sweep the quake-hit regions of the southwest next week, which prompted the urgency for more arrivals of rescue tents for unsheltered victims.

The central government has enlisted many outdoor travel products and supplies companies to manufacture tents. Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday visited two of the manufacturers in east China's Zhejiang Province, urging them to manufacture as many as possible and ensure the quality of their products while speeding up the production.

So far, 400,000 tents have been transported to the quake-hit areas, which were far from enough, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang Thursday.

Foreign countries have promised to donate 151,900 tents, among which 11,500 tents had been delivered to the quake areas, he added.

As for some media reports on the impropriation of rescue tents in Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, the vice governor Li said they were "individual cases," but should be severely punished.

"It is very mean to impropriate rescue goods in time of disasters. Discipline and supervision authorities have carried out investigations on the matter," he said.

Chen Kefu, deputy director of the civil affairs authority in Sichuan said that the provincial government will ensure a transparent use of relief cash and materials.

"Information on the use of relief supplies and cash will be published on the Internet in the future. For the time being, we are busy with sending relief supplies to the quake-hit areas," Chen said.

Permanent homes for the quake victims are expected to take 3 years to build, said Li Chengyun, the Sichuan vice governor at the press conference. "The priority work in the reconstruction is to find proper locations for rural residents to build houses. We will strive to make such village houses ready for them before winter comes," said Li.

In terms of the intensity and scope of destruction, the May 12 quake is believed to have surpassed the 7.8-magnitude quake in 1976 in Tangshan, northern Hebei Province, which claimed more than 240,000 lives.

Li said that the quake caused heavy disasters in an area of 100,000 square km, which covered 19 of Sichuan's 21 cities and prefectures. The quake also affected many other provinces in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2008)