As farmers in Chongqing and Hunan in southwest and central China are salvaging crops affected by torrential rains-triggered floods, authorities are ramping up relief efforts to minimize damage to grain production.
Pengshui County in Chongqing saw a fresh round of downpours from Thursday to Friday, with the maximum precipitation in 24 hours reaching 166.6 millimeters. Flash floods triggered by the heavy rains submerged swathes of crops.
The floods inundated corns and sweet potatoes in Ping'an Town of the county.
"The whole base is flooded. The water is 60 to 70 centimeters deep, somewhere up to one meter." said Chen Jigao, mayor of Ping'an Town.
The torrential rains damaged crops of corn, sweet potatoes and medicinal herbs in many parets of Pengshui. The local government has dispatched officials and heavy-duty machinery to carry out relief work.
Heavy rains have also affected Hunan Province in central China, one of the country's major rice-producing regions.
In Wuqiangxi Town, Yuanling County, farmlands in some villages have been inundated, seriously threatening the rice plants that are currently in a critical growth period.
Tangjiaping Village, with a flat terrain and close to the Yuanjiang River, is the leading single-season indica rice producer in Wuqiangxi Town, with its 73 hectares of rice to be harvested in late September or early October. The seedlings in the fields have grown to almost knee high, and now are in the tillering stage, when the plant is very sensitive to moisture.
Because of the flooding, the soil at Tangjiaping Village is extremely saturated.
Preliminary statistics show that some 27 hectares of the village's 73 hectares of paddy fields have been covered with mud and gravel brought by the torrents, with the silt reaching a meter deep at worst.
Local agricultural experts warned that receding floodwaters could easily drain the fertility in the fields, resulting in a decrease in grain production. They said the priority now is to clean the surface of the farmland, lift the fallen seedlings, promptly apply fertilizer or replace them with other crops.
The county agricultural bureau has also sent experts to the village to guide farmers to assess the affected farmland and find solutions.
Floods damage crops in Chongqing, Hunan
Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Kazakhstan will promote bilateral relationship towards new development, said Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, in a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN). From July 2 to 6, Xi will attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States in Astana, and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan at the invitation of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Tajil President Emomali Rahmon.
According to Zhang, Xi's upcoming visit, which will be his second to the country in less than two years, marks the significance that China places on its relationship with Kazakhstan.
"The visit will be Chinese President Xi Jinping's second visit to Kazakhstan in less than two years, following his previous visit in September 2022. Kazakhstan will become the only country visited twice by Xi since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these is a demonstration of the high-level and special China-Kazakhstan relationship. During the visit, the two heads of state will hold in-depth discussions on the China-Kazakhstan relationship, cooperation in various fields, and international and regional issues of mutual concern, which will lead the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries towards new development," said Zhang.
President Xi will also attend the SCO summit in Astana, where he will compare notes with leaders of other member states on the current international and regional situations, as well as the development of the SCO. Together, they will make new arrangements and plans for the next stage of development of the SCO, and join hands to promote the building of an even closer SCO community with a shared future, said Zhang.
"President Xi's visit will serve an opportunity to uphold traditional friendship, strengthen good-neighborly friendship, enhance political mutual trust, make plans for mutually beneficial cooperation, boost confidence in cooperation, and pave way for a brighter future. It will also be a visit for friendship, peace, cooperation, and mutual benefit. It will definitely inject strong impetus into the development of China-Kazakhstan relations as well as the prosperity and stability of the region, while infusing the current turbulent world with greater certainty and more positive energy," he said.
Xi's upcoming visit to promote China-Kazakhstan relationship: ambassador
