Text of report by Xinhua news agency

Zhangbei, 13th January: Snowfall in north China this morning has brought new problems for people in the area 220 km northwest of Beijing which was damaged by a strong earthquake that struck on Saturday.

Local meteorological departments said the heavy snow falling east of Zhangjiakou Prefecture in north China's Hebei province to Beijing posed difficulties to transport of disaster-relief materials to Zhangbei and Shangyi counties, the hardest-hit areas by the quake.

In addition, people in the quake-hit areas are expected to have more problems recovering from the quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale which killed 47 people and injured more than 10,000.

By 0830 [local time] this morning, all of the traffic police in Zhangjiakou Prefecture had been called out to assist the transit of disaster-relief supplies.

Ren Zhongming, an official with the traffic police, told Xinhua that eight snow ploughs have been used on city highways to clear the roads for transport teams from other provinces and cities.

At the same time, another 20 traffic police vehicles are patrolling the major highways.

No accidents have been reported from Zhangjiakou and transport teams continued to arrive from many parts of China.

Local meteorological departments predict the temperature will drop slightly in the next few days, but will decline by 5-to-8 degrees on 18th and 19th January.

The temperature at night in the quake-hit areas has been 20 degrees below zero Centigrade in the past few days.

Local people, rescue workers and soldiers are redoubling their efforts to put up more shelters for the quake victims.

A rescue team from the Red Cross Society of China is expected to arrive here later today.

Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0313 gmt 13 Jan 98

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