A cloudburst swept through Beijing on Friday, prompting the city's meteorological center to issue a blue alert for rainstorms and suspend the opening of some scenic spots in mountainous areas.
China has a three-tier, color-coded weather warning system for severe convective weather, with orange representing the most severe warning, followed by yellow and blue.
Beijing has been hit by heavy downpours since Friday morning, accompanied by short-term gusty winds.
The bad weather has increased the possibility of landslide and debris flow in the capital city's mountainous outskirts.
Many hotels, homestays and scenic spots in the relevant areas have suspended business for safety concern.
Beijing issues low-level alert for rainstorms
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has emphasized the need for major countries to make "consolidated" efforts to address the urgent challenges of climate change, which he said pose an "existential threat" to many vulnerable nations around the world.
Aliyev was speaking after U.S. President Donald Trump moved to sign dozens of executive orders following his inauguration on Monday, including one withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.
In an exclusive interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of the 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Aliyev discussed the widespread dismay over the U.S. pulling out of the accord, particularly from the countries who are facing the gravest climate threats.
He noted Azerbaijan has been actively pushing for greater climate action, highlighted by its hosting of COP29, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC), last year.
"Actually, when we became deeply involved in the issues related to climate change, we've seen that there is a big level of disappointment in the countries which have existential threats with respect to climate change. We all suffer from that, including Azerbaijan, but there are countries, especially small island states, which face an existential threat. And their case sometimes was not put on the center of the agenda," said Aliyev.
He stressed how the these smaller countries' lack of financial resources puts them at greater risk of the impact of climate change, and emphasized the importance of a unified approach from the world’s major powers to help those most in need.
"It is obvious that without the consolidated approach of big actors, it will be difficult to support those countries, and those countries who don't have financial resources to address climatic issues," the president added.
Further underlining the efforts Azerbaijian is taking towards a more green and sustainable future, Aliyev shared that the country has set clear clean energy targets in the coming years and welcomes investment to meet these goals. He also noted that Chinese technologies are playing a big role in the transition.
"Our immediate target by 2027 is to have two gigawatts of solar and wind, and by 2030, six gigawatt. And that will be kind of revolution in the energy mix in Azerbaijan. I'd like also to say that the investors, which are investing -- [including] foreign companies -- in these projects, [and] including local companies from Azerbaijan, they use Chinese technology. Solar panels are produced in China. Now our team is working on storage capacity. And we found out that the best batteries are in China," he said.
Azerbaijani president stresses unified approach to tackle climate threat after Trump withdrawal