Xinhua News Agency:

This year, many places across China have suffered from floods and droughts to varying degrees. What is the overall situation of flood control and drought relief and what are the next steps? Also, after the institutional reform, what changes have taken place in flood control and drought relief? What results have been achieved? Thank you.

Zhou Xuewen:

Thank you for your questions. This year we have seen an early start to the flood season, with many numbered floods (floods of a certain large scale), severe regional disasters, and prolonged high temperatures and droughts. The flood and drought disasters can mainly be characterized by four aspects:

First, north and south China have seen more rainfall than the central region. The average precipitation nationwide is slightly lower than in previous years, but the rainfall in most of the north as well as south China has increased by 10%-100% compared with the same period in ordinary years, and the Yangtze River Basin, as well as Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region have experienced 10%-50% less precipitation.

Second, there have been many numbered large-scale river floods in China. A total of 586 rivers across China experienced floods that exceeded warning water levels. A total of 10 numbered large-scale floods hit China's major rivers. As you may recall, two large-scale floods hit the Pearl River Basin, with the Beijiang River experiencing a catastrophic flood. And the main stream of the Liaohe River suffered its biggest flood since 1995.

Third, we have seen more severe regional flood and waterlog disasters. Provinces such as Guangdong and Liaoning were severely affected, and provinces including Sichuan and Qinghai suffered from major mountain torrents. Since the beginning of this year, 171 people have either died or gone missing due to flood and waterlog disasters, and the number of collapsed buildings has reached 27,000, decreases of 60% and 71.7% respectively compared with the average during the same period in the recent five years.

Fourth, we have seen longer periods of high temperatures and droughts. Since July, the Yangtze River Basin has experienced its severest high-temperatures and heatwaves since 1961. The quickly deteriorating droughts in Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei and Hunan have impacted domestic water use, agricultural production and electric power supply.

According to forecasts by meteorological departments, this fall, that is, from September to November, there will be more precipitation in northern, southwestern, central and southern China and the fall rain in western China will start earlier and be generally stronger. The fall rain in western China has already started. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin may continue to suffer droughts that started in summer, and we should not be optimistic about the flood control and drought relief situation. We will go all out to continue the flood control and drought relief work in the post-flood season with a sense of responsibility to always be alert and vigilant.

Since the institutional reform, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the MEM have been conscientiously implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on flood prevention, drought relief and disaster relief, focusing on improving the long-term mechanism for flood prevention and drought relief, and continuing to strengthen capacity building for disaster prevention and mitigation.

First, a work paradigm combining integrated and separated efforts and coordinating prevention and rescue has be formed. The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has been giving full play to its leading role in steering and coordinating the work, the MEM has been leveraging its comprehensive strength, and relevant departments have also utilized their professional advantages in this regard. We have basically established a mechanism with inter-departmental coordination and central-local and military-civilian cooperation, so that the advantages of the emergency management system reform have become more evident. 

Second, the responsibility system of joint management by Party and government bodies and delegated responsibilities has be improved. Local Party committees and government institutions have shouldered the main responsibility of disaster prevention and relief, with strengthened implementation of the responsibilities of higher-level administrators, persons with delegated responsibilities, and actual point persons for risk identification and prevention. And this responsibility system extends to villages and communities at the very end. 

Third, the working mechanism has been improved with a focus on preventive and preemptive measures. We have strengthened the joint analysis and assessment on disaster risks between departments, and established an early warning and "call and response" mechanism directly reaching the person responsible at the grassroots level. Heavy rainfall often occurs in the middle of the night or in the early morning when most people are asleep. If warnings by meteorological departments are sent via cell phone text message or WeChat, they may not be received or heard. This requires the meteorological departments to issue a high-level warning, and to wake up those responsible at all levels, especially those at the grassroots level, as soon as possible. So, we called for the establishment of this "call and response" mechanism, which entails a wake-up call and a response to it. Under this mechanism, we start emergency response upon receiving meteorological warnings, dispatching task force for emergency rescue and disaster relief at an earlier time. 

Fourth, a system mainly consisting of professionals and complemented with social participation has be strengthened. An emergency rescue and disaster relief system has been initially established. In this system, the national comprehensive firefighting and rescue task force is the main force, and the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police will take on the difficult tasks, with collaboration by professional rescue teams of relevant departments and central stated owned enterprises and other forces of the society. We have been equipped with advanced and applicable rescue equipment. In disaster response, we act quickly and in an orderly manner with science-based and efficient measures. 

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we have pooled strengths from all fronts and coped with a series of major disasters in recent years. As institutional reforms enter their fourth year, the annual average number of deaths and disappearances, and houses collapsed due to floods has plummeted by 30% and 55%, respectively, compared with the average number over the five years before the reforms began. Thank you.