BEIJING - Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are supporting moves to improve earthquake contingency measures as the Beijing Olympic Games approaches, Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu told an inter-ministerial conference on Monday.

Hui, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the National Headquarters for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation, urged local governments and central government departments to step up efforts to prevent earthquake-related disasters.

"The prevention of earthquake disasters is a public safety issue and concerns the general situation of reform, development and stability," he said.

He called for substantial efforts to strengthen the monitoring and study of earthquakes, accelerate the building earthquake-proof areas in cities and quake-resistant houses in rural areas, and set up emergency rescue teams.

He called for the faster implementation of the national plan on earthquake prevention and disaster reduction, more investment in seismological technology, and stronger coordination between the Army and civilian departments and other departments and areas.

At the meeting, the participants heard a report on the work of earthquake and disaster reduction in 2007 and studied and arranged major tasks on earthquake mitigation in 2008.