In a report on urban development commissioned by the Ministry of
Construction, experts said that many of China's big cities prone to
natural disasters such as floods, typhoons, droughts, blizzards and
earthquakes are ill-equipped to deal with them with little or no
disaster prevention and relief system in place.
The report was released at a forum yesterday organized by the
China Mayors' Association.
Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan noted the report's conclusions in his
keynote speech, and warned: "Many municipal governments in China
are weak in urban management and disaster prevention."
He also called on the nearly 300 mayors who attended the one-day
forum to abandon blind expansion of cities and focus their time and
energy on increasing disaster preparation and prevention
capabilities.
Zeng warned that as the numbers of residents in major cities
grow, "any natural disaster could catch many people unprepared if
we continuously ignore the problems occurring in the process of
urban sprawl."
China's urbanization rate was 43 percent in 2005 and by 2020 is
likely to reach 60 percent.
"However, China's cities are vulnerable in terms of disaster
relief," warned Shi Peijun, a professor with Beijing Normal
University, who led the team in writing the chapter on urban
disaster prevention in the annual report.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has also
pinpointed natural disasters as a major challenge facing China.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs said last week that China is
facing its most severe natural disaster situation in six years.
By August 15, natural disasters had killed at least 2,006
people, affected more than 316 million people, left some 624 people
missing, displaced 12.95 million people, destroyed 36 million
hectares of farmland, and caused 160 billion yuan (US$20 billion)
worth of damage this year alone.
Shi also suggested that the country should continuously increase
spending on disaster relief.
Although spending was raised from 1.9 billion yuan (US$230
million) in 1995 to 4 billion yuan (US$500 million) in 2004, in
percentage terms, it has decreased.
According to international standards, the central government
should contribute 0.8 percent of its total financial expenditure to
disaster prevention and relief. But the ratio in China has
decreased from 0.96 percent in 1995 to 0.4 percent now.
Shi also suggested that China should build more national
disaster relief reserve centers in southern and western China,
where natural disasters frequently occur.
China now has 10 national reserve centers, and similar
facilities should be built in Yunnan, the Tibet Autonomous Region and western provinces,
Shi added.
(China Daily August 23, 2006)