BEIJING - President Xi Jinping further encouraged quality restoration work in Xinjiang's Pishan county, which was hit by a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in early July.

Xi asked local authorities to regard the reconstruction as a major task, which could help consolidate ethnic unity, safeguard border stability, accelerate poverty relief and promote local economic and social development.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the central government departments will "give necessary special support" for the reconstruction, Xi said, according to a central government statement released on Thursday.

The president praised local authorities' performance during the disaster relief and said that they had minimized the loss caused by the quake.

He stressed that people affected by the quake must have houses to live in before the winter comes.

Premier Li Keqiang also asked departments involved to work out and implement measures for the reconstruction and to settle those affected during the transition period.

Li asked local authorities to improve management loopholes and enhance Xinjiang's ability to prevent and deal with disasters.

The quake shook Pishan county, inhabited by people of Uygur ethnicity, on July 3 and left three dead and 263 others injured. Xi and Li had conveyed their sympathy immediately after the quake and called for all-out efforts in rescue and disaster relief.

Currently, the quake-hit areas are stable and in good order, the statement said.