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English.news.cn 2012-05-17 19:07:20

LANZHOU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,100 students in northwest China's Gansu province returned to class Thursday after their school was closed by hail and storms on May 10, according to local authorities.

The students of Hetuo School in Minxian county went back to school Thursday following hail and torrential rains that hit the county last week, killing 45 people and leaving 14 others missing, according to Wang Decheng, director of the local education department.

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Rainstorms have left 102 people dead and another 30 missing across China since late April, a national disaster relief agency said Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, heavy rains accompanying thunder, hail and strong winds have hit a large portion of China and affected about 13 million people, including 820,000 who needed relief efforts, said a statement from the Office of the National Committee for Disaster Reduction.

CHANGSHA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Four of nine people who fell into a river following a Sunday bridge collapse in central China were found dead Tuesday, rescuers said.

The 120-meter bridge, which connects two townships in Pingjiang county in Hunan province, collapsed Sunday morning after being hit by three sand dredges flushed downstream in the worst floods experienced in the county in a century.

Nine people subsequently fell into the Changjiang River, with three rescued thus far.

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Finance said Monday that it has allocated 20 million yuan (3.17 million U.S. dollars) to help relief work in storm-hit Gansu Province.

The funds will be used for disaster relief and restoration of destroyed water conservancy facilities in counties of Minxian, Zhangxian and Weiyuan, according to a statement posted on the ministry's website.

Hail and torrential rain has battered parts of Gansu in recent days, wrecking havoc on people's lives, agricultural production and infrastructure.

BEIJING, April 5 (Xinhua) -- China's ongoing severe drought has hit 13 Chinese provinces, having an adverse impact on agricultural production, the country's drought relief authorities said Thursday.

As of Thursday, the dry spell has left 7.82 million people and 4.58 million head of livestock without adequate drinking water in provinces including Yunnan, Sichuan, Hebei, Shanxi and Gansu, said an official from the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Southwest China's drought-stricken Yunnan province is not expected to see any rainfall before March 10, the country's meteorological authority said Friday, adding that they will carry out artificial precipitation when weather permits.

Yunnan has seen little rain for almost three years, resulting in low soil moisture levels.

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has assigned a special group to Yunnan, preparing for artificial precipitation to relieve the drought, said Chen Zhenlin, an official with the CMA.

Severe drought has lingered in southwest China's Yunnan Province for three consecutive years, disrupting the lives of 6.3 million people at present, local authorities said Tuesday.

Direct economic losses reached 2.3 billion yuan (372 million U.S. dollars), according to a statement released by the provincial civil affairs department.

More than 651,000 hectares of crops were damaged or destroyed by drought in the province, the statement said.

XINING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The quake-hit Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai province has used over 20.8 billion yuan (about 3.3 billion U.S. dollars) for reconstruction projects since the quake struck in 2010.

A 7.1-magnitude quake struck Yushu on April 14, 2010, leaving nearly 3,000 dead or missing.

A total of 20.89 billion yuan has been spent on the reconstruction work so far, provincial Governor Luo Huining said on Friday, adding that 15.88 billion yuan was spent in 2011.

GOV.cn Wednesday, November 30, 2011

China will continue to dispatch naval escort squads to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

Spokesman Geng Yansheng made the remarks at a monthly press briefing, adding that China will further boost cooperation with international escort missions in accordance with the spirit of the United Nations Security Council.