China pumps money into national disaster relief

The Ministry of Finance on Thursday issued 199-million-yuan worth of subsidies to help the nation tackle natural disasters, after the southern part of China experienced the worst floods in years this summer.

The subsidies mainly aim to enhance capacity building in less developed and vulnerable regions and to reduce possible economic loss to the least extent, according to a statement issued on its website.

China is likely to continue hitting extreme weather this year due to strong El Nino events, according to Zhou Bing, chief engineer at the National Climate Center.

The Yangtze River basin in the southern part of the nation experienced torrential downpours and floods that continued into July, resulting in damages to more than 200,000 homes in the region, according to Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The last glimpse of heavy flooding occurred in 1998, when floods affected more than 180 million people, according to state media reports.