Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the northeastern city of Tangshan on the 30th anniversary of the 20th century's deadliest earthquake, state media said Sunday.
Hu was shown placing a wreath at the city's earthquake memorial plaza and meeting rescuers and rebuilders of the city, which was razed by the quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale on July 28, 1976.
"At the critical moment of fighting the earthquake disaster, you had no fear of danger, bravely moved forward and made great achievements for the victory of earthquake disaster relief work," Hu told the group Friday.
"The party, government and people thank you."
Hu also visited a sanatorium which treats people left disabled by the quake. He said he was moved by the strength of the victims and their ability to face life and help others.
Hu said Tangshan had good prospects of achieving the nationwide goal of building a well-off society and urged residents to continue to help build a "prosperous, civilized and harmonious new Tangshan."
Previous coverage of the anniversary by state media did not mention Hu's visit.
The quake left 242,769 people dead and 164,851 critically injured, according to official figures, although it is widely believed the death toll could be much higher. The US Geological Survey says on its website 655,000 people may have died from the quake and the subsequent 7.1 degree aftershock.
On the anniversary the government has preferred to focus on what it calls the "miraculous" reconstruction of Tangshan into one of China's top 50 cities.
At the time the government refused all international aid. It announced the official death toll only in 1979.
Another point of controversy that still lingers is whether the government could have done more to prevent the enormous loss of life after receiving warnings from seismologists of an imminent quake in the area.
