Beijing's Fangshan district rebuilding efforts look to the future

About six months after last summer's floods, Beijing's Fangshan district is steadily rebuilding.

On Sunday, Sun Aihua, director of Fangshan district's science and technology committee and member of the 14th Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the reconstruction work is going smoothly.

According to official statistics, the flood damaged 63,000 houses. 4,162 households will be rebuilt in their original locations, of which 3,539 are under construction as of Jan 12. The remaining rebuilding work is scheduled to commence before March 5 and be completed by the end of May.

"Another 244 households will be rebuilt in new villages and will be completed before May of 2026," said Sun.

The district has restored all 860 kilometers of water supply lines and 133.1 kilometers of sewage lines. Riverway and channel restoration work is 20 percent complete and will be done before the end of May.

Meanwhile, the majority of county-level roads destroyed by the flood are in the process of restoration or have been fully restored. 64 percent of rural roads have been repaired.

"All road construction work will be finished before the end of May," said Sun.

The district is also making advances in public service facilities. Students have resumed classes, and the reconstruction of two schools will conclude before the end of March. Their students have been assigned to study in other schools in the meantime.

Ninety four damaged grassroots medical facilities will complete construction. About one-quarter of the 105 compromised elderly service facilities have finished repair work, and the rest will be finished before July and August.

As for industrial revival, about 90,000 mu (6,000 hectares) of farmland and 11,200 mu of vegetable land have returned to farming conditions. This year, the district has sowed 50,000 mu of winter wheat, surpassing 2022. 6,100 damaged and 2,600 collapsed vegetable greenhouses will be recovered in the first half of this year.

In the cultural tourism industry, 10 of the 22 affected scenic areas, 91 of the 118 damaged homestays, and all 11 plunged wineries have resumed operation.

Reconstruction requires funds. So far, Beijing has allocated 1.1 billion yuan ($150 million), and China's central government has released 4.3 billion yuan of national debt to help Fangshan. The district also received donations of 18 million yuan.

Fangshan built and renovated two emergency support centers in Shidu and Fozizhuang townships to prepare for potential future disasters. In peacetime, they are used for social and cultural service activities. When disasters come, they can accommodate more than 200 people and will be used as emergency command centers. These centers have food, medicine, communication devices, water purification facilities, and power generation equipment that can provide electricity for 15 days.

"To help people in disaster areas have a happy Spring Festival, we have brought special gifts and provided consumer vouchers for building materials and home appliances," Sun added.

Sun said that in addition to pushing forward reconstruction work, Fangshan will develop four major industries this year, including new energy storage and hydrogen energy, new materials, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and intelligent connected vehicles. Efforts will also be made to develop the tourism industry.

"We not only want to finish reconstruction work after the flood but also want people to know that we will achieve comprehensive development in the new year," said Gao Wujun, deputy head of Beijing's Fangshan district and member of the 14th Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on Saturday.

Second plenary session of the 14th Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC concluded on Wednesday.