Hui, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), spoke during a study tour of rural areas of east China's Jiangxi Province.

He urged rural areas to take firm measures to prevent the spread of SARS in the countryside.

Hui said the most urgent task was to prevent farmers who had gone to cities to work returning to their homes.

During the SARS outbreak, such workers should think of themselves, relatives at homes and society at large and remain at work in urban areas, the Chinese vice premier said.

In the meantime, different localities and government departments that had employed farmers as workers should make greater efforts to keep people at work in cities.

Organizations that had employed farmers as workers should organize production schedules and should not sack staff randomly, he said.

The vice premier said such workers who contracted SARS should be treated free of charge in their workplaces.

Town governments and village committees should keep a close watch on workers who had returned from SARS-affected cities and continue with SARS monitoring and prevention work.

He urged local officials to make a success of agricultural affairs policies by concentrating on improving farmers' income.

Hui also emphasized the importance of preparing well for the forthcoming summer flood season, preventing forest and prairie fires, epidemic diseases among animals, and controlling crop diseases and insect pests.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2003)