Record drought in China

Chinese officials say more than 50 million people in the country are suffering from the worst impact of the worst drought in a century.

People bring cans to get water in Guangxi Province, China on March 31.Photo: Xinhua.

AFP quoted Deputy Minister of China Water Resources, Mr. Liu Ning, said most of the people affected by the drought live in the southwest and 24.25 million people lack clean water. Meteorological experts reported that the situation only improved when China entered the rainy season from May 20.

According to Xinhua, on March 22, China's National Disaster Relief Committee announced that 51 million people in the country were affected by the drought. 4.348 million hectares of agricultural land lacks irrigation water and food crops on 940,200 hectares cannot survive.

Since last fall in southwestern China - including Yunnan Province, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing City - only receive half of the annual rainfall. . Water sources fall into a state of exhaustion.

Deputy Minister Liu said the current drought did not adversely affect China's food production. AFP reported that the Chinese government has spent 6.3 billion yuan (923 million) to overcome the consequences of drought and bring the country to the affected areas. In the future the government will promote water storage projects, such as building reservoirs.