Dali Yang, the director of the East Asian Institute in Singapore, said the Government might have come to the realisation that openness and accountability could bolster its legitimacy and counter growing anger over corruption, rising inflation and the disparity between the urban rich and the rural poor.

“I think their response to this disaster shows they can act, and they can care,” he said.

The toll climbed to nearly 15,000

•Around 25,000 are still buried in rubble

• 50,000 troops sent as search for survivours quickens

• Stock market shakes off worries

• Sympathy for China muffles criticism over Tibet

• Cost could reach $20 bn, says disaster modelling firm

• China has asked space agencies across the world including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for help in obtaining quake-related satellite data, for aiding relief operations in the country