The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on Thursday to study and arrange work on flood prevention and relief as well as post-disaster restoration and reconstruction.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech.

Noting that China is still in the main flood season with frequent occurrences of disasters such as rainstorms, floods and typhoons and risks of flood disasters in some areas, the meeting urged relevant departments and regions to put the safety of people's lives and property first and do a good job in flood prevention and relief.

Precise early warning response

Efforts should be made to realize precise early warning responses and further strengthen the connection between meteorological early warning and disaster alert, the meeting said.

Basin floods are the top priority of flood control work, it said, urging the need to plan and implement the flood control dispatching work in river basins and make comprehensive preparations for plans, teams and materials to ensure the safety of major rivers during flood seasons.

It is necessary to coordinate flood control and drought relief well and strictly prevent concurrent drought and floods, the meeting said.

The meeting stressed the need to decisively evacuate and transfer people in dangerous areas at critical times and further refine the plan for personnel transfer to ensure comprehensive and early transfers.

Efficient and scientific rescue

The meeting stressed the importance of all-out efforts for rescue, urging to coordinate and dispatch various rescue forces such as the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, the People's Liberation Army and the armed police force, as well as social rescue forces, to ensure efficient and scientific rescue.

All-out efforts must be made to rescue people trapped and search for the missing to minimize casualties, it said.

The meeting stressed the need to properly resettle and transfer the residents and ensure the basic livelihood of the people afflicted by disasters.

Efforts should be made to do a good job in environmental disinfection and epidemic prevention and enhance market supply and price stability to restore the normal order of production and living in disaster areas as soon as possible, according to the meeting.

Enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation and relief capabilities

The meeting stressed the need to further enhance the country's disaster prevention, mitigation and relief capabilities.

It is necessary to strengthen the capacity building of regional emergency rescue centers, focus on the implementation of urgent, difficult and dangerous tasks, and highlight the rescue needs of major regional natural disasters, said the meeting.

It also urged efforts to strengthen the planning and construction of urban flood control and drainage, improve the operation of urban drainage networks and improve other infrastructure to ensure the smooth flow of cities' main drainage channels.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: Firefighters carry out a drainage operation in Zhuozhou City, north China's Hebei Province, August 7, 2023. /Xinhua News Agency)