The Chinese government has ordered local authorities to beef up their reserve of disaster-relief materials as summer nears.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said in the order that local authorities must make sure that they could provide relief materials within 24 hours of any emergencies.

Local governments must procure disaster-relief materials through public bidding, in order to ensure the quality of goods and the transparency of the procurement process, the order said.

Local government should also decide the scale and amount of materials stored based on local needs and the nature of disasters likely to occur, the order said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2008)