Heavy rain has been battering Beijing since Sunday evening, leading to flooding at some locations that has caused traffic disruptions and prompting a blue alert to warn citizens of potential dangers.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated on Sunday a level-IV emergency response -- the least severe on the country's four-tier emergency response system for flood control -- to possible flooding in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shanxi. Beijing's meteorological bureau also issued a blue alert for rainstorms on Sunday afternoon.
By 10:00 on Monday, the average rainfall in the Chinese capital reached 59.8 millimeters, reaching the level of a heavy rainstorm. The rainfall reached extreme levels exceeding 100 millimeters in the central districts of Chaoyang and Haidian, as well as in outer districts including Tongzhou, Shunyi, and Mentougou.
The downpours have put pressure on the city's traffic, especially during morning rush hours, and created water-logging at some road sections. Beijing's traffic police have stepped up efforts to direct traffic while more sanitation workers have been dispatched on the streets to clear out excessive water.
The rain in Beijing is expected to gradually weaken and come to an end on Monday afternoon.
China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Heavy rain batters Beijing, putting pressure on city traffic
Heavy rain batters Beijing, putting pressure on city traffic
The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing on Friday morning with hotspots around the world and security cooperation taking the center stage.
The opening ceremony was attended by more than 600 official representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations, including nearly 300 heads of official delegations and officials from various countries. The forum is held with the theme of "Promoting Peace for a shared future".
China's Defense Minister Dong Jun attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. He first read out a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping to the forum. Then, he mentioned in his speech the current hot issues including the Ukrainian crisis and the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.
Dong said "there is no winner in a war and a conflict, and there is no way out if we just confront each other." He also stressed that promoting peace talks is the only way out, and the fundamental way out.
Two plenary sessions were held after the opening ceremony. At the first session, participants exchanged views on "security cooperation and prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region", and official representatives from Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Fiji, Russia and Malaysia spoke at the meeting.
The theme of the second plenary session was "multipolarization and the direction of international order", and defense ministers or military generals from six countries including Cambodia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Iran delivered speeches.
The topics all focus on security hotspots. Participants include not only developing and developed countries, but also representatives, experts and scholars from the closely-watched countries such as the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.
In interviews, many participants said that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is committed to promoting dialog, exchanges and cooperation among defense agencies, militaries and international organizations of various countries, and is playing an active role in promoting regional security and stability and maintaining world peace and development.
The ongoing Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which runs until Saturday, will also hold eight parallel group sessions, focusing on themes such as the correct way for China and the United States to get along, European security trends and Middle East peace vision. This year, a new session on outer space security has been set up for participants to jointly discuss issues on outer space security governance.
Initiated in 2006, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a high-level security and defense forum in the Asia-Pacific with significant international influence.
11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opens with focus on hotspots, security cooperation
