China had spent 1.4 billion yuan (168 million US dollars) on earthquake resistance before the end of 1997, the Business Weekly quoted an official with the Ministry of Construction as saying.

　 Qu Qi, division chief of the ministry's earthquake resistance office, said that China has placed emphasis on earthquake resistance since the devastating 1976 Tangshan earthquake which killed more than 200,000 people.

　 His remarks came in the wake of disastrous earthquakes that have occurred in Turkey, Greece and China's Taiwan island within the past several months.

　 The National Code for the Seismic Design of Buildings (GBJ11-89) , which was effective since 1989, required that buildings should not be damaged by minor tremors, should be repairable after medium ones, and should not crumble because of major ones, Qu said.

　 In Beijing, permanent buildings and structures are required to withstand tremors up to magnitude 8.

　 Construction companies should apply for approval from local construction authorities to start a high-rise construction project, and ask the ministry-approved committee of seismic experts to examine designs and evaluate the overall anti-quake capacities.

　 Sources with the Ministry of Construction said China's high- rise construction has mushroomed in recent years in the urban areas. The country was in an active earthquake period during the time of the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000).

　 China is revising the GBJ11-89 code to help disseminate technological advances and experiences gained in resisting earthquakes that have been accumulated during the past decades, Qu said.

　 About 600 earthquakes measuring magnitude 6 or above have been recorded in China during this century, killing at least 550,000 people. This is more than half the total of quake casualties in the world during the period.