BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday chaired a Party leadership meeting to deliberate and make arrangements on rescue and relief efforts after a devastating mudslide hit Gyirong County in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region.

At the beginning of the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, observed a moment of silence to mourn the victims of the disaster.

A mudslide in Nepal on Wednesday struck the border port of Gyirong, causing heavy casualties and leaving many people missing.

Following the disaster, the CPC Central Committee attached great importance to the situation, and Xi immediately issued important instructions on rescue and emergency response efforts.

Entrusted by Xi, Premier Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, traveled to the disaster-hit area to visit the affected people and rescue and relief personnel, and to supervise rescue and emergency response efforts.

Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also went to the site to guide the response.

According to the meeting, emergency rescue operations have been carried out swiftly and in an orderly and well-coordinated manner under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, with comprehensive efforts underway for the resettlement of affected people and handling of the aftermath.

The disaster occurred in a severely cold plateau region with steep valleys, variable weather, many surrounding glaciers and glacial lakes, as well as potential geological hazards, which poses significant challenges to emergency rescue operations.

The meeting emphasized that all relevant authorities and departments must take resolute and effective measures for the rescue-related work. Search and rescue plans should be formulated in a scientific manner, and every effort should be made to search for and rescue all missing Chinese and foreign nationals, it stressed.

Multi-department joint consultation must be strengthened, monitoring and early warning enhanced, barrier lake and surrounding mountain stability closely tracked, and effective measures taken to strictly prevent secondary disasters, according to the meeting. It also urged enhancing on-site personnel management to ensure safety throughout the rescue process.

China will provide emergency aid to the disaster-hit area in Nepal and carry out international rescue cooperation, the meeting said.

The meeting called for conducting comprehensive inspections to identify potential risks and hazards, boosting real-time monitoring and early warning, and enhancing the capacity to identify risks arising from disaster chains.

It also urged that emergency response mechanisms should be improved, and key rescue forces be strengthened.

More rescue and emergency response forces should be deployed to remote and disaster-prone areas, according to the meeting.

International cooperation on disaster management in border areas should also be strengthened to jointly enhance emergency management as well as disaster prevention, mitigation and relief, it added.

On better coordinating development and security, the meeting emphasized the need to prepare for worst-case and extreme scenarios, bear a strong sense of political responsibility and constant vigilance, and make solid efforts to ensure safety and stability. ■