Forty-one percent of China's population will be living in
economically-developed areas and cities that are prone to floods by
2020, Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources, said in Beijing
Friday.
"With the rapid economic and social development, population and
wealth are converging on economically-developed areas and cities,"
said Chen, also deputy commander-in-chief of the Office of State
Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
"By 2020, the cities in the middle and lower reaches of China's
major rivers will accommodate 600 million people," he said.
About 67 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP),
or 26 trillion yuan, (3.5 trillion U.S. dollars) will come from
these regions, he said, stressing that flood control is becoming
"increasingly important".
The economic impact of floods on China's economy is greater than
that felt by developed nations, said Chen, citing China's annual
direct economic losses from floods since the 1990s at 110 billion
yuan.
"This accounts for 1.8 percent of the national GDP, much higher
than figures in the U.S. and Japan, which are 0.03 percent and 0.22
percent, respectively," he said.
So far this year, floods have affected 180 million people in 31
Chinese regions including Chongqing, Henan and Anhui, with 1,203
people killed, according to figures from the headquarters.
Figures also show that flash floods and mud slides are
responsible for more than 70 percent of the death toll.
From the end of July to early August this year, almost 200
people were killed in heavy rainstorms on the borders of central
China's Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces.
The floods this year also ruined 12 million hectares of crops
and destroyed more than one million houses, leading to a direct
economic loss of 107.1 billion yuan.
According to Chen, the flood department has been making headway
in flood control, building more flood defence facilities and
improving monitoring and forecasting systems.
Chen said this year's death toll resulting from floods were down
by half from normal years and economic losses were reduced to one
fifth.
(Xinhua News Agency, December 7, 2007)