The inferno in the 28-storey apartment block on Monday caused panicked residents to attempt desperate jumps to safety or seek refuge on rickety construction scaffolding surrounding the building, which was being renovated.

The State Council, China's cabinet, issued an order late Tuesday calling for a crackdown on the lax observation and enforcement of fire-safety measures to "resolutely prevent and curb the occurrence of major fires".

The blaze was the country's worst since a shopping mall fire in the northeastern city of Jilin also killed 53 people in February 2004, according to state media.

More than 70 people were injured in the Shanghai fire, with 17 still in critical condition. A total of 36 people were listed as missing.

DNA tests had to be used to identify 26 of the 53 people killed, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The Shanghai Morning Post quoted a witness saying a Japanese national was among the fire's victims. A spokeswoman at Japan's consulate in Shanghai told AFP they could not confirm the report but were looking into it.

Local Chinese authorities had no immediate comment.

The blaze was the latest in a rash of major fires, the government said, including one two days before at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University and another earlier this month in Jilin province that killed 19 people.

The government typically orders such safety campaigns after deadly fires but disasters blamed on lax safety continue to occur.

The State Council order called for comprehensive fire-safety inspections of all construction sites.

Police said they have detained eight people in connection with the fire.

The head of the state-owned construction company renovating the building was among those held, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

The State Council issued a preliminary investigation report on Wednesday, blaming the fire on two unlicensed welders, who, it alleged, ignited nylon netting around the scaffolding and "other combustibles".

The renovation involved "multiple-levels of illegal sub-contracting" and safety measures were not met on the disorderly work site, the cabinet report said.

Authorities have ordered news websites to play down coverage of the fire -- especially "all comments lashing out at the government", Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, citing a news portal editor.

Blocked material included an online video posted Wednesday by the Economic Observer weekly showing a journalist testing the flammability of a purported sample of the insulation panels being installed on the building's exterior.

Shanghai boasts about 5,000 high-rise buildings, including the country's tallest -- the 492-metre (1,614-foot) Shanghai World Financial Centre. About 100 buildings in the city are more than 100 metres high.

The city fire department said it had 4,573 fires this year, but did not break down how many were in high-rises.

The building's renovation -- to make it more energy efficient -- had it swathed in scaffolding and nylon construction sheeting, which was blamed for helping the blaze spread quickly.

Such renovations and other building projects have picked up suddenly in Shanghai after authorities lifted a moratorium on major construction in the city centre during the six-month World Expo, which ended on October 31.

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