China is preparing for flooding in its northern regions that could potentially hurt crop output amid torrential rain that’s lasted over a month and caused billions of yuan in economic damage. The floods have killed 141 people and affected more than 38 million residents in 27 provinces, Zheng Guoguang, vice minister of emergency management, told reporters in Beijing on Monday. The downpours caused more than 61 billion yuan ($8.7 billion) in direct economic losses as of July 9, the ministry said last week.
“China is about to enter a critical period of flood prevention and control in late July and early August,” said Ye Jianchun, vice minister of water resources. “We expect rainfall to move northward and the Huai River and other rivers in the north are expected to experience large-scale floods in certain areas.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday urged officials to implement more forceful and better measures to fight the floods, underscoring the severity of the situation.
Already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, authorities are under pressure to ensure the floods don’t undermine China’s nascent economic recovery. An easing of lockdown measures plus a modest amount of policy stimulus should be enough to post a positive growth rate for the second quarter, after the historic 6.8% collapse in the first quarter.
From 2020 to 2022, China plans to push forward 150 major water works projects worth roughly 1.29 trillion yuan ($184 billion) combined, according to Ye. The projects are expected to bring 6.6 trillion yuan in direct and indirect investment and provide 800,000 jobs annually on average, he said.