A senior Chinese official urged Thursday key forest areas in north and northeast China to prevent possible forest fires, as certain forests of the country had been hit by fire this year.

Local forestry departments should strengthen the publicity and forecast work against forest fires, and enhance their abilities to deal with forest fire emergencies and quench them scientifically, Hui Liangyu, vice-premier of the State Council, told a forest-fire prevention meeting Thursday in Heilongjiang Province.

The meeting was held specifically for the work in northeastern Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, and north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which boast 50 million hectares of forests, or nearly 30 percent of the country's total.

Forest areas near farming areas and in small hills and scenic spots will be the key areas in fire prevention in the next several months for the three provinces and the region, said Jia Zhibang, director of the State Forestry Administration, at the meeting.

Between 2001 and 2005, more than 60 major forest fires occurred in the three northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia region, damaging nearly 400,000 hectares of forests, according to official data.

China has witnessed mounting fire problems this year amid a dry weather, higher temperatures and decreased rainfall in the northern and southwestern parts of the country.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2006)