Local governments in rain-affected regions of China have scaled up efforts to carry out drainage of waterlogged areas and rescue work, as torrential rains inundated crops and stranded residents.
Zhujiafang Town of Shenyang City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, was lashed by heavy rains, with the precipitation exceeding 550 millimeters within three days, while the average annual rainfall in the area is about 600 millimeters.
There is a total of over 5,000 hectares of farmland in the town, but the strong rains have flooded most of the land.
The inundated corn plants, the main grain crops in the region, are vulnerable to rotted roots when the weather clears up, if the flood water in crop fields are not drained in a timely manner, according to local farmers.
Local authorities accordingly have water intake facilities built and mobilized more than 120 pumps to work against time to drain waterlogged farmland, as part of the efforts to minimize the losses.
The meteorological department of Jiaohe City in Jilin Province, northeast China, has activated the Level-III emergency response for floods, as heavy rains have been battering the city since Monday.
Local authorities have evacuated the residents who live downstream of reservoirs, near rivers and in key areas at risk of geological disasters in an orderly manner and have also taken measures to drain flooded farmlands.
The continuous rainfall has swelled multiple rivers traversing the city, with some farmlands submerged.
The local government has intensified efforts to build dikes and dig canals to drain the cultivated land with machines.
In addition, those people trapped in their flooded houses were evacuated to safer places.
As of 20:00 on Saturday, a total of 7,213 villagers from 2,286 households in key areas were relocated in Jiaohe City.
Northeastern China scales up efforts to drain flooded farmland, evacuate trapped residents
Upon the closing of the Paris Paralympic Games, Laurent Fabius, president of the French Constitutional Council and Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin congratulated China Media Group (CMG) on its comprehensive broadcast coverage of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Fabius and Raffarin sent letters and lauded CMG in its broadcasting and reporting of the two grand Games, stressing its significant contribution towards boosting cultural exchanges between France and China.
In letters to CMG President Shen Haixiong, Fabius and Raffarin emphasized that the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games are not only sporting events, but also a moment to share and celebrate world diversity and civilization achievements.
They said that the events served as a window to showcase the history and culture of France, and it is great to see CMG playing an important part in the broadcast coverage.
Fabius and Raffarin also lauded the events held by CMG to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France.
It is a great honor to participate in this year's cultural and people-to-people exchange activities organized by CMG in Paris to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between France and China, and these activities are conducive in enhancing the relations between the two countries and should be strongly encouraged and supported, Fabius said in the letter.
Cultural and people-to-people exchanges such as the French Film Week of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival and the celebrations on the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic ties have fully demonstrated the profound friendship between France and China, Raffarin said in his letter.
CMG's active contribution and foresight are crucial to the exchanges between the two countries, he said.
Noting that there are many valuable experiences that France and China can learn from each other, Raffarin said he hopes to further deepen the friendship and explore more possibilities for cooperation to enhance mutual understanding and further enrich cultural exchanges between the two nations.
CMG appreciated for performance in broadcasting, reporting of Paris Olympics, Paralympics
