China has improved its disaster response by building an emergency supplies network, but disaster relief efforts by the government still struggle to meet people's diverse needs, said a senior official from the country's top disaster relief department.

"We can distribute tents, food, drinking water, clothes and quilts to people affected in 12 hours or less after a natural disaster takes place," Li Baojun, deputy head of the office of the National Commission for Disaster Reduction, told China Daily ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction on Sunday.

He said China has established a four-tier disaster relief material storage network: 18 central-level disaster relief material bases in transport hubs nationwide, all provincial capitals, some 93 percent of cities and 80 counties have set up warehouses for disaster response in their regions.