China natural disasters cost $3.3 billion in first quarter, government says
13/04/2024 05:47
BEIJING, April 13 (Reuters) - Floods, droughts, an
earthquake and freezing conditions in China caused direct
economic losses of 23.76 billion yuan ($3.28 billion) in the
first quarter, the government said on Saturday.
The emergency management ministry cited damage from several
cold spells, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in the northwestern
region of Xinjiang, landslides in Yunnan province in the
southwest and flooding on the Yellow River.
The disasters killed 79 people while 110,000 needed
emergency relocation and resettlement and 10.4 million people
across 26 regions and provinces were affected in the period, the
ministry said in a report.
Other natural disasters included a drought in the southwest
affecting 424,000 hectares (10,500 acres) of crops, sandstorms
in the northwest and forest fires in the southwest and south.
Last year natural disasters in China caused 345.45 billion
yuan ($47.7 billion) of direct economic losses, with 691 people
dead or missing, the ministry reported in January.
In January the ministry said it plans a three-year campaign
to tackle problems hampering response times during disasters and
accidents, including production safety lapses in sectors like
mining.
($1 = 7.2371 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen and the Beijing
newsroom; Editing by William Mallard)
((David.Kirton@thomsonreuters.com;))