Xi calls for improving disaster prevention

BEIJING, Aug 15: Chinese President Xi Jinping called for improving the country's ability to prevent, mitigate and respond to natural disasters, after a string of deadly floods and landslides this summer.

Xi's remarks, published on Saturday in Qiushi, a journal central to Communist Party messaging, follow China's strongest typhoon this year and a series of landslides that killed dozens, underscoring the growing toll of extreme weather on the world's second-largest economy.

"As global warming continues, extreme weather events and disasters such as torrential rains, floods, typhoons, and droughts are increasing significantly, exacerbating their destructive impact," Xi said, according to the article.

Xi urged a shift towards pre-disaster prevention, stronger monitoring and early-warning systems, and efforts to close gaps in flood-control and drainage infrastructure in northern China, the article said. His remarks were drawn from a speech delivered at a Politburo study session on April 28.�" REUTERS