Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday went to Beichuan County of Mianyang City to visit people affected by the southwest China earthquake, encouraging them to be confident in overcoming hardships caused by the disaster.

Hu first visited quake victims in Shengli Village, Leigu Town of Beichuan. More than 1,000 out of the 18,000 population in Leigu Town died or were missing in the quake.

Hu went into a tent to talk to one family. Seeing the man's daughter was injured in the quake, Hu said, "We know you've suffered. The quake destroyed your house and injured members of your family. We feel your anguish.

"The whole Party, army and all the people have been mobilized to support the quake relief work," he said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) is greeted by Premier Wen Jiabao at Mianyang airport in Sichuan Province May 16, 2008. Hu arrived in the quake-battered zones to direct the rescue operations and to inspire the rescuers and victims of Monday's earthquake. [Xinhua]

He encouraged the victims to be strong, overcome difficulty with confidence, courage and strength.

He then went to the Beichuan Middle School, where all the teaching buildings collapsed in the quake.

Knowing there were still 300 teachers and students buried in the ruins, Hu said, "Saving lives is still an urgent task. We should rescue them by every possible means as long as there is a glimmer of hope."

Hu also praised the troops conducting rescue work in Beichuan Middle School.

"You came to the frontline immediately, and threw yourself into the rescue work regardless of your own safety and made a great contribution.

"You have given hope, confidence and strength to the quake-affected people," he said.

Hu said the rescue work has entered a crucial stage. "You should be unafraid of fatigue and work around the clock, making great efforts to keep losses to a minimum."

In a field clinic in the middle school, he kissed the face of Luo Mengxi, a three-and-half year old girl who lost her mother in the quake.

He went back to Beichuan county seat and visited the Nanhe Sports Center, where more than 10,000 disaster-affected people were settled. He thanked the volunteers for their contribution to the rescue work.

He also visited the Mianyang City Central Hospital, telling the medics to make every effort to treat the injured.

Chinese President Hu Jintao consoles locals in a village in Beichuan county, May 16, 2008. He encouraged them to be confident in overcoming hardships caused by the disaster.  [Xinhua]

Hu went to the quake-hit areas Friday to console quake-affected people and direct disaster relief operation.

Hu arrived at Mianyang City at Friday noon after more than two hours of flight from Beijing. In the meeting room of the airport, he and Premier Wen Jiabao, who had been directing relief work in the disaster-hit areas since Monday, discussed the quake-relief work.

The meeting said "rescuers must reach not only towns but also all villages." The survivors who had been rescued must be transferred to safer places in time, and children who lost their parents and elders who lost their family members in the quake must be properly cared for.

Also Friday morning, Premier Wen Jiabao told Chinese media on a train in Sichuan that saving lives remained the top priority almost four days after the quake.

"We won't give up if there is even the slightest hope of finding more survivors," he said.

The death toll from the powerful earthquake rose to 22,069 nationwide as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, according to the emergency response office of the State Council.

Death Toll Rises to 22,069

By 2:00pm Friday, the death toll in southwest China's Sichuan Province rose to 22,069 nationwide, while 168,669 people were injured, according to the emergency response office of the State Council.

Altogether 21,577 people were killed in Sichuan, close to 2,000 up from Thursday, and 159,006 injured.

Working 24 hours a day, the rescuers finished rushed repairs on a quake-damaged road from Lixian county to the epicenter, Wenchuan county, at 9:30 pm Thursday night.

Sichuan Vice-Governor Li Chengyun told a press conference that another 102,000 people were injured.

In the early morning of May 16, a professional search and rescue team from Japan has entered Sichuan Province, and entered the quake-hit areas. And rescuers from Russia, South Korea and Singapore are also expected to arrive soon.

Rescuers have been struggling to reach all quake-hit areas, battling landslides, buckled roads, collapsed bridges and wet weather.

A soldier gives a wounded woman water at the earthquake-hit Beichuan County, about 160 kilometers northeast of the epicenter of Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, May 13, 2008. China dispatched more soldiers to the earthquake-ravaged province of Sichuan on Wednesday to quicken a search for survivors. [Agencies]

33 Surviors Rescued in Beichuan County

Thirty-three more survivors were pulled out of debris in Beichuan county in southwest China on Friday as rescue efforts entered the fourth day since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday.

The total number of survivors saved in Beichuan in Sichuan Province rose to 13,595, rescuers said.

Beichuan, a county of about 160,000 people, is one of the worst-hit region, with 80 percent of the buildings collapsed and at least 7,000 lives lost.

A 46-year-old survivor, Peng Zhijun, had lived on cigarettes, paper napkins and his urine when he was buried in the rubble in the past four days. He was still sober-minded almost 100 hours after the quake.

Doctors said he suffered bone fractures in the left arm and slight injuries in the legs, but the other parts of his body were basically in good condition.

"Natural disasters cannot be avoided. I had to save me from myself," Peng told reporters Friday evening.

He recalled that more than 10 people had been buried beside him in the rubble. "At the very beginning, they were all alive. But unfortunately, they died one after another."

"I had encouraged some of them to drink their urine. But they did not listen," he said.

Zhang Yan, a 36-year-old woman pharmacist, was rescued at 2:36 p.m. Friday. She was unconscious and soldiers carried her on their backs to a nearby medical center.

A 72-year-old woman named Deng Zhongqun was found by soldiers after being stranded at her badly damaged hillside house. She had been injured by a falling girder and had eaten only nuts over the past four days.

"Thank goodness for the soldiers. I only weigh 65 kilograms and they carried me by turns on their backs, walking miles to reach the medical station," said Deng.

The death toll in Sichuan alone exceeded 21,500 while 14,000 others remained buried as of 4 p.m. Friday, vice provincial governor Li Chengyun said at a press conference.

He said that 159,000 people were injured in the massive earthquake and 4.8 million people had been relocated.

Friday's death toll rose by about 2,000 from that of Thursday.

Sichuan had experienced 4,432 aftershocks in the past four days, Li said.

The national death toll from the earthquake rose to 22,069 as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, the latest government statistics show.

In addition to the deaths in Sichuan, 364 were killed in Gansu Province, 109 in Shaanxi Province, 15 in Chongqing Municipality, two in Henan Province, one in Yunnan Province and one in Hubei Province.

The central government allocated another 1.17 billion yuan ($167 million) to the relief fund for quake-hit areas on Friday. This brought the disaster relief fund from the central budget to 3.41 billion yuan.

Public donations in both cash and goods to the quake-hit areas rose to 3.175 billion yuan as of 4 pm Friday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

China has mobilized more than 130,000 troops for rescue operations, who were desperate to excavate survivors despite the passing of the prime time for survivors' rescue -- 72 hours after the quake.

Foreign rescue teams from Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and Singapore have arrived in Sichuan to aid the disaster relief efforts.