China's State Council reiterated its call for local governments to implement tighter public security and emergency response measures in a circular released on Tuesday, on the eve of the one-year Olympic countdown.

Urban apartment complexes are encouraged to install security cameras but it is not a compulsory measure and the cost will be borne by the estate management companies.

The circular told school authorities to improve campus security to ensure student safety and it urged local governments in both rural and urban areas to step up measures on epidemic prevention.

"The country will take two or three years to stretch an emergency response network horizontally to cover the entire territory and vertically to reach the grassroots level," the circular said.

The circular told all villages, communities, enterprises and institutions to complete "feasible emergency plans" and stage emergency drills before the end of 2008 and to set up emergency response teams.

Authorities concerned should work out a series of disaster relief laws, insurance, compensation, public fund and donation systems, it said, adding both urban and rural areas should improve fire control facilities, medical equipment and shelters.

It asked members of the public to "increase their security awareness and self-rescue skills".

The draft emergency response law submitted to China's top legislature in June defines "emergencies" as industrial accidents, natural disasters, and health and public security crises.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2007)