Premier Wen Jiabao flew into southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday afternoon and left straight for the quake-hit county of Wenchuan, 159 kilometers from the provincial capital of Chengdu, to oversee rescue work.

Wen said during his flight that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council were closely monitoring the disaster relief work after Monday's earthquake.

"I will be in charge of relief work headquarters that has been set up with eight departments covering rescue work, earthquake forecasting and monitoring and other aspects," Wen said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)