"This year's flood was just slightly less furious than that of 1998 but the flood relief situation was really encouraging," E Jingping, secretary-general of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said in an exclusive interview.

E said the constant heavy investment in disaster-relieving engineering systems along the river has not only reduced the need for relief efforts, but cut economic losses and causalities.

"The system could not only cope with floods on a normal scale but also help us do so without putting in more demanding energy than in 1998," he said.

Since April, lingering rains in the upper Yangtze and mammoth Three Gorges reservoir have caused water levels to keep rising - even partly above those of the 1998 floods in the cities of Yichang, Shashi and Hankou.

China only used about 1.1 million residents and emergency personnel to fight this year's flood during its peak, while in 1998, about 9.7 million people were needed. About 200,000 military personnel were used in 1998, compared with 15,000 this year.

Since the big flood of 1998, China has invested nearly 30 billion yuan (US$3.61 billion) in strengthening the Yangtze's dikes. E said the development program has paid off as the river's main levee this year successfully withstood the largest surge of floodwater since 1998.

This year's flood season in China claimed more than 1,530 lives, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Most of the damage was caused by exceptionally heavy rains, which resulted in torrential floods, landslides and mud-rock flows.

E said the country has established a comprehensive system to cope with floods and initiate emergency relief.

Despite the progress, E said there were still many concerns, like the hidden dangers of middle and small-scale reservoirs collapsing in heavy rain and the potential damage to China's mountainous regions.

He also said there were not enough life-saving engineering projects being carried out in flood catchment areas, some major, intermediate and small rivers still need strengthening and some middle and small cities were not up to flood-control standards.

(China Daily October 14, 2002)