China's top macro-economic planner Ma Kai said in Beijing on Thursday that the recent snow and ice storms had limited impact on the country and would not change the fundamentals of the economy.

The Chinese government acted promptly to the disaster and the measures proved to be effective, the minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said at a press conference on the sidelines of China's parliamentary session.

Traffic had returned to normal on the whole before the Spring Festival, which falls on February 7, said the official.

The country's highway network accommodated 2 billion trips while railways 196 million trips during the just-ended 40-day Spring Festival transport season. "Could any other country transport so many people in such a short time?" said the minister.

More than 90 percent of the power grids that damaged during the disaster have been repaired so far, Ma added.

Coal stock for power plants currently stood at more than 27 million tons, enough for the consumption of 14 days.

The stock had dropped to a warning level amid the snow and ice storms, with some power plants suspending operation and others with stock of no more than one week.

China is heavily dependent on coal as it is considered an affordable energy resource at a time when oil and natural gas prices rise steadily in the international market.

Snow and ice storms plagued southern China since mid-January, leading to widespread traffic jams, structural collapses, blackouts and crop losses in 19 provinces, leaving 129 people dead and causing 151.65 billion yuan (US$21.3 billion) of losses.

Authorities, based on weather forecasts, had issued five warnings between December 10 last year and January 19 to urge local governments to be prepared for snow storms.

Top Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders went to the disaster-hit areas to guide on the fight against disaster, which encouraged the affected people a lot.

The State Council established a headquarters to coordinate contingency measures for coal, oil and power supply, transportation and disaster relief in snow-hit areas, which effectively put resources from all over the country to combat the crisis.

The minister said defects in the economic development were discovered in the storms, and China shall work to improve its ability to deal with major natural disasters and emergencies.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2008)