Untapped potential: investing in China flood defences could unleash growth
By Wang Xiangwei
So far more than 200 people have died or are missing as a result of the floods and landslides, while several million people have been evacuated from their homes and millions of hectares of crops damaged, inflicting losses of more than 100 billion yuan (HK$116 billion).
Yet China is bracing for even worse problems as the flooding season usually peaks in late July and the first half of August.
While officials put the blame squarely on Mother Nature and the effects of climate change, the country’s massive propaganda machine has revved up to trumpet the role of the leadership of the Communist Party in mobilising armed forces and government departments to help tackle such large-scale disasters.