BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, making his third visit to the quake zone, spoke of a "calamity-ridden nation" on Sunday but said life in the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu should be back to normal within two months.
The epicentre of the May 12 quake was in the southwesternprovince of Sichuan, but surrounding provinces also suffereddamage and about 500 deaths, with many village housesdestroyed.
The total death toll is nearly 70,000, with thousands moremissing.
China has also been hit in the year it hosts the Olympicsby record-breaking snowstorms and annual summer floods in thesouth.
"The lives of quake-affected people should basically beback to normal (in Shaanxi and Gansu) in two months, andreconstruction in the two provinces should be basicallycompleted by 2010," Wen was quoted by Xinhua news agency sayingin Gansu's capital Lanzhou.
"Authorities should continue to stick to the 'people first'policy in their work and guard against epidemics," Wen said.
Wen visited students at a middle school and encouraged themto work harder. Many schools in Sichuan toppled in the quakewhile buildings around them stayed upright, raising questionsabout safety and construction standards.
"We should not forget this earthquake and particularly thespirit of unity and mutual help and hard work," he said. "Onlywith this spirit, can the calamity-ridden Chinese nation beinvigorated and the country be built."
(Reporting by Li Jiansheng; Editing by Nick Macfie)
