BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ordered 90 more helicopters and 30,000 troops to be deployed to the earthquake zone, saying the battle to save lives was the top priority, state media reported Thursday.

The military will also send another 30 transport aircraft into the zone following the devastating 7.9-magnitude quake, Xinhua news agency said.

The new helicopters will join the 20 choppers currently involved in dropping food and supplies to remote areas hit in Monday's disaster, which left nearly 15,000 dead, 41,000 buried or missing in Sichuan province, Xinhua news agency said.

"We must use all our forces, and save lives at whatever costs," Wen told a meeting late Wednesday of the country's quake relief headquarters.

"Life is the most precious thing, we must be amenable to the people and to history," Wen said.

The report said China's military would provide 60 new helicopters and 30 would be provided by the civil aviation industry.

Separately, China's defence ministry said it would deploy another 101 helicopters to the stricken area, Xinhua reported. It was not clear why this figure differed from the number released by Wen.

Helicopters are vital to the relief effort as much of the worst-affected area consists of mountain villages and towns cut off by huge landslides caused by the massive earthquake.

The meeting also ordered the mobilisation of 30,000 more troops for relief effort.

Xinhua said the total number of troops, armed police and regular police involved in the operation now exceeded 116,000.

The order for the 30 transport aircraft comes after China used 22 military transport and 12 civilian passenger planes on Monday and Tuesday to fly in troops and supplies, state press reports have said. - AFP/ir