China has renewed its appeal for more temporary shelters to house millions of homeless from the quake-hit regions.

Li Chengyun is Vice Governor of Sichuan Province.

""We need tents and prefabricated houses. More than 5 million of the quake affected need proper shelters."

But the official added rescuing survivors remains the top priority.

By Thursday evening, the death toll from the quake had exceeded 55,000 in Sichuan alone, with nearly 25,000 still missing.

More than 140,000 troops and over 48,000 medical workers have been mobilized to the Sichuan disaster area.

As to long-term efforts, Li Chengyun said that Sichuan will require three years to reconstruct the quake-hit areas.

But he admitted it will not be an easy task, as the infrastructure in eight of Sichuan's worst-hit mountainous counties has been destroyed.

"The rebuilding task for the region faces many difficulties. The mountains have been shaken loose by the earthquake and the more than 7,000 aftershocks. The priority reconstruction task is to find proper locations for rural residents to build new homes. We will try hard to rebuild the homes in the villages before winter."

The official emphasized that a thorough survey of the damage caused by the earthquake must take place before the reconstruction effort can get underway.