BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Chinese 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, the article said. His remarks were drawn from a speech delivered at a Politburo study session on April 28.
China’s strongest typhoon this year battered the capital with bouts of intense rain that flooded key roads and stranded vehicles, while lashing wide swathes of the country.
Last month, landslides triggered by flash floods in northwestern Gansu province killed 25 people, and another landslide in Chongqing in the southwest caused by a collapsed mountain left 51 dead.
China is increasingly battling destructive weather that scientists link to climate change, especially this year, as an emerging El Niño pattern boosts temperatures and fuels more frequent and intense typhoons.
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.
Xi said disaster risks must not be allowed to spill into economic, energy, food and social security, and urged the use of technologies including artificial intelligence, drones and satellite remote sensing in rescue efforts.
(Reporting by Ziyi Tang, Xiangming Hou and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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