Landslides and other geological disasters caused more than two billion yuan (US$241.6 million) in economic losses in China in 2004, the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) said in a recently issued report.

Most of the disasters occurred in the mountainous regions of central and western China, which were hit by heavy rainfall between June and September. Chongqing Municipality alone suffered 308 such events, said the report.

Yunnan Province, in the southwest, suffered the highest economic losses in the nation at more than one billion yuan (US$120.8 million). Chongqing Municipality, also in the southwest, followed with 420 million yuan (US$50.7 million).

However, total economic losses caused by geological disasters in 2004 were slashed in half from 2003 as a result of the implementation of the Regulations on the Prevention of Geological Disasters, which led local governments to step up efforts.

Human casualties resulting from such events also dropped significantly, said an MLR official. He did not provide specific numbers.

According to the report, monitoring stations forecast 213 of the 976 disasters, permitting the evacuation of more than 470,000 people.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2005)