President Xi Jinping demanded full-scale efforts in search and rescue of missing people on Monday following a landslide in Zhaotong in Yunnan province, urging to protect the safety of people's lives and property.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction after the disaster buried 18 houses and left 47 people missing earlier Monday morning in Liangshui village of Zhenxiong county in Zhaotong city.

Xi ordered every measure to minimize casualties, enhancing monitoring and early warning and preventing the occurrence of secondary disasters.

Efforts should be made to lend assistance to the families of the victims and properly relocate the affected population, he said.