No environmental damage has so far been recorded but that, as factories begin production, officials would need to vigilant to ensure that chemical waste is properly disposed of, he said.
"We now face more daunting challenges in investigating and removing hidden troubles and carrying out environmental inspections as time passes by and factories gradually resume production," he said.
As the government continued to bring relief to the devastated areas of Sichuan, it was evacuating thousands downstream from rivers that were dammed by landslides.
With their waters pooling, the blocked rivers could breach the earthen barriers, a danger that would grow with coming rains or in aftershocks from the quake.
The confirmed death toll rose to 55,740 and another 24,960 remained missing 12 days after the quake, said the State Council, China's cabinet.
From Rescuing to Rebuilding
The government was shifting focus to long-term reconstruction and away from the search for survivors and bodies among the wreckage.
Chinese banks were told Friday to forgive debts owed by survivors in an effort to revive the shattered economy, and the government warned it was cracking down on price gouging by merchants in the disaster area.
The government also said it sent more fuel from China's strategic reserves to the quake-affected areas.
Beijing also ordered its richest provinces and cities to adopt areas that were hit hard by the quake and to start sending aid right away, especially tents and drinking water.
Vice Governor Li Chengyun said the province would aim to rebuild roads and cities within three years.
Back in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, a Dutch rescue-and-recovery team with sniffer dogs complained that soldiers had prevented it several times from entering disaster areas.
"They have stopped searching, and they want to clear things out," said Saad Attia of the group Signi, which arrived Saturday with Labrador retrievers and Belgian shepherds.
"They are allowing no one in, not even the cadaver dogs."
Sichuan Vice Governor Li said the search had not been abandoned.
"We will not give up on trying to save people," Li said.
Six giant pandas were moved Friday from a damaged panda-breeding base in Wolong near the epicenter because of food shortages, the official Xinhua News Agency said (exclusive video of pandas being rescued just after quake).
(See "Panda Finds Way Home to Reserve After China Quake" [May 20, 2008].)
The animals were taken to another preserve in Sichuan, near a city called Ya'an.
Two pandas missing since the quake have still not been located.
Associated Press writer Cara Anna, Joe McDonald and Henry Sanderson in Beijing contributed to this report.
