President Xi Jinping called for improving the country’s ability to prevent, mitigate and respond to natural disasters, after a string of deadly floods and landslides this summer.
Xi’s remarks, published on Saturday in Qiushi, a journal central to Communist Party messaging, follow China’s strongest typhoon this year and a series of landslides that killed dozens, underscoring the growing toll of extreme weather on the world’s second-largest economy.
“As global warming continues, extreme weather events and disasters such as torrential rains, floods, typhoons and droughts are increasing significantly, exacerbating their destructive impact,” Xi said, according to the article.
Xi urged a shift towards pre-disaster prevention, stronger monitoring and early-warning systems, and efforts to close gaps in flood-control and drainage infrastructure in northern China.
Last month, landslides triggered by flash floods in Gansu province killed 25 people, and another landslide in Chongqing caused by a collapsed mountain left 51 dead.
China will “continuously improve our ability and level of prevention and response to various natural disasters, and effectively safeguard the lives and property of the people and social stability,” Xi said. — Reuters
