BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's vice civil affairs minister on Tuesday urged fast relief responses to natural disasters in 2014, vowing to ensure disaster-hit residents with food, clothes, clean water, safe shelters, and medical service within 12 hours of an incident.
"Whether disaster-affected residents can get aid to meet their basic living needs within 12 hours relates directly to emotional and social stability," Jiang Li said at a national video conference on the deployment of natural disaster relief work in 2014.
Jiang asked related agencies to prioritize people's safety in disaster relief, relocation and reconstruction, and to carry out relief work efficiently.
The vice minister also called for better management and supervision of relief funds and materials. She suggested a third party could be invited to conduct checks to ensure justice and transparency.
Natural disasters killed 1,851 people and left another 433 missing in China last year, inducing "obviously heavier" losses than those in the previous year, according to the ministry.
Disasters affected over 388 million people and forced the relocation of 12.15 million, leading to direct economic losses worth 580.84 billion yuan (94.85 billion U.S. dollars), up 38.8 percent from 2012.