Urban relocation best for rural quake victims: Official

Policies should be devised to help resettle millions of earthquake-hit residents from rural areas to cities, a senior official said yesterday.

Creating employment in urban areas is an effective way of successfully relocating rural quake victims, said Liu Shijing, vice-director of the Development and Research Center under the State Council.

The earthquake has directly affected more than 10 million people, leaving many of them homeless after their cities, towns and villages were reduced to rubble. Thousands of makeshift houses have since been constructed.