Mud-rock flows and landslides left an average 1,036 people dead or missing in China each year from 1995 to 2006, a Chinese scientist said on Monday.

Fu Bojie, chief of the environment and resource bureau with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said landslides and mu-rock flows left 12,428 dead or missing in China during the 12-year period.

Around 74 million people in 1,583 counties or cities were threatened by landslides and mud-rock flows, said Fu at the Fourth International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation, which began on Monday in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan province.

More than 100 debris flow-prone areas have been effectively treated across China, protecting the lives of more than 100,000 people, said Deng Wei, director of the CAS Mountain Hazards and Environment Institute.

The four-day conference attracted 130 debris-flow researchers from 19 countries who gathered to discuss the treatment and prevention of disasters.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2007)