Torrential rains pounded the southern Chinese resort city of Sanya in Hainan Province on Monday, flooding streets, disrupting residents’ lives and prompting a major relief effort to drain the water and return the city to normal.
The rain stopped at around 16:00 on Monday, but more than 150 millimeters of rain fell between early Sunday and Monday afternoon, flooding more than 30 roads across the city, local authorities reported as Typhoon Trami weakened into a tropical depression after it made landfall in Vietnam on Sunday morning.
The heavy rainfall was caused by a combination of cold fronts and remnants of the typhoon's cloud system, according to the National Meteorological Center. Forecasters predict parts of the island could see up to 400 millimeters of rain through Tuesday.
The Sanya Meteorological Observatory issued a red rainstorm warning early on Monday morning, the highest alert level in the country's four-tier weather warning system.
With severe flooding across the city, local education department announced that all kindergartens and primary and secondary schools would suspend classes starting from noon on Monday until further notice.
Several public facilities and entertainment venues in the popular tourism city were also temporarily closed.
On one major road in Sanya, floodwaters reached nearly one meter deep, prompting an emergency response from local firefighters.
"We have installed five drainage belts. Apart from the drainage work, we also talk to residents nearby, see if there is something they need help with and we can help," said firefighter Huang Dingxu.
About 1,800 workers have been mobilized for emergency flood control and traffic management across Sanya.
Weather officials warn the severe weather could persist until Wednesday.
Sanya streets submerged as heavy rain from Typhoon Trami pummels Hainan
Mutual trust between the European Union and China will be undermined if the European side conducts separate price commitment talks with certain Chinese firms while engaging in general negotiations with China concerning electric vehicles (EVs), a spokesperson with China's Commerce Ministry said Monday. The EU's insistence on separate talks with the relevant Chinese firms will also disrupt the overall negotiation process and add more administrative costs to follow-up implementation and supervision of price commitment agreements, the spokesperson stated.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis held a round of talks via video link on Friday.
The European Commission said in its news release that the negotiations between the EU side and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) do not exclude discussions with individual Chinese car exporters.
China made it clear in the talks that the CCCME had been fully authorized by different types of Chinese enterprises to put forward a price commitment plan that represents the overall position of the industry, the spokesperson said.
On this basis, China and the EU have conducted several rounds of consultations with a lot of efforts made and some progress achieved, the spokesperson said.
With the next phase of talks already launched, China hopes that the two sides will build on previous consultations and accelerate the negotiation process, so as to secure substantive breakthroughs as soon as possible, the spokesperson added.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation EU, is set to impose countervailing duties of up to 35.3 percent on EVs imported from China, additional to the EU's existing 10 percent tariff on imported cars, following a qualified majority vote on Oct 4.
EU's separate EV price commitment talks with Chinese firms will harm mutual trust: official
