Chinese state councilor stresses all-out flood relief efforts

BEIJING -- State Councilor Wang Yong on Tuesday called for all-out efforts in flood prevention, relief, and rescue work to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

At a video conference on Tuesday, Wang, also head of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, called on relevant authorities to enhance coordination and strengthen monitoring and early-warning systems for heavy rainfall, typhoons, and other severe weather events.

Noting that the country is in a critical period of fighting floods, Wang underlined the importance of strict precautions against dike and reservoir breaches, torrential floods, waterlogging, as well as other secondary disasters to prevent causalities.

He also stressed efforts to properly relocate affected people and promptly allocate relief supplies to ensure basic living standards of people hit by floods.

Since June, continuous downpours have lashed large parts of southern China, and the waters of many rivers in the affected regions have exceeded warning levels.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Tuesday launched a Level II emergency response for major natural disasters and sent special work teams to five provinces, hit hard by floods, to assess the impacts and make plans for restoring agricultural production after disasters wane.