Flooded China expands social security network as extreme rainfall causes losses
Beijing (Reuters) – China has expanded economic safeguards for the population affected by flood control plans during extreme rainfall, including commitments from central government to pay for direct compensation and payments for livestock losses.
In China, flooding floods to areas next to rivers is an important step in managing downstream flooding. With the increasing frequency of extreme rainfall, China is increasingly using these areas, some of which have not been used, and so far, farms, farmland and even residential buildings have occupied social tensions.
Under the revised rules for compensation related to flood transfers issued late Friday, the central government will now bear 70% of all compensation funds, while local governments are responsible for the rest. Previously, the ratio should be determined based on actual economic losses and the financial situation of local governments.
Livestock and poultry that cannot be relocated in time will also be included in the compensation plan for the first time until the transfer flood wasters arrive. In the past, compensation could only be made for the losses of working animals.
In the summer of 2023, after nearly 1 million people in Hebei, near Beijing’s doorstep, rain forced authorities to transfer water from swollen rivers to densely populated areas for storage and triggered anger and farms over the Chinese capital saving the Chinese capital’s houses.
Currently, China has 98 designated flood transfer areas, spanning major river basins, including the Young River Basin, which is home to one-third of the country’s population. In the 2023 Hebei flood, eight flood storage areas were used.
Since the East Asian monsoon began in early June, precipitation in central and downstream of Yanggez has been twice as high as usual.
They said that in other parts of China, 30 weather stations in provinces such as Hubei and Guicun measured daily rainfall.
Guizhou was the focus of China’s efforts to mitigate floods this week, with one city hit by floods, which meteorologists say can only happen once only 50 years later and at a rate that shocked 300,000 residents.
This prompted Beijing to release a pledge on Thursday to move vulnerable populations and industries to low waters and allocate more space for flood transfers.
(Report by Ryan Woo; Edited by Kim Coghill)
