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A local villager presents a box of biscuits to express her thanks to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers when they are leaving the quake-hit Yinghua Town in Shifang City of southwestern China's Sichuan Province, July 21, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]
Locals sob as they bid farewell to soldiers of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Shifang, July 20, 2008. The first group of PLA soldiers withdrew from Shifang Sunday.[Xinhua Photo]
Chen Yangmeng, an 11-year-old girl who survived the devastating earthquake on May 12, presents a flower to a soldier of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Shifang, southwestern China's Sichuan Province, July 20, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]
The first batch of Chinese soldiers, 515 paratroopers, boarded a train and left the quake-stricken Sichuan Province after completing their relief operations on Monday.
The soldiers, who left here at 9:45 a.m., were the first group of a 40,000-strong force due to leave the province.
The troops will leave according to the need for their services, according to the order signed by President Hu Jintao, chairman of China's Central Military Commission.
The rest of the soldiers will leave by train, bus and plane.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has sent a work group to Chengdu to coordinate the withdrawal, after which more than 80,000 PLA troops and armed police will stay on in the quake zone to help with disaster relief work until further orders arrive.
They will shoulder responsibilities include restoring transportation, providing road maintenance, preventing quake-triggered secondary disasters and clearing debris.
The military will also help relocate quake survivors, prevent diseases and transport relief goods.
The returning troops are expected to resume life in the barracks at an early date after the withdrawal, military sources say.
The government mobilized about 130,000 troops, armed police and reservists to help with relief work after the magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck southwestern China on May 12.
As of Thursday, the military and armed police had saved 3,336 survivors, transferred more than 1.4 million people and provided medical treatment for more than 1.19 million injured.
The troops also cleared more than 19.42 million cubic meters of debris, sterilized an area of 1.55 billion square meters and sent 7,474 tons of relief goods to the quake-battered zone.
Locals bid farewell to soldiers of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Shifang, July 20, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]
Locals wave good-bye to soldiers of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Shifang, July 20, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]
Editor: Nie Peng
Source: Xinhua
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