China has formed a set of comparatively improved anti-flood emergency management mechanisms over the past years, said Zhang Zhitong, vice chief of the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter.

At a press conference sponsored by the State Council Information Office on June 13, Zhang said that China is a country plagued by frequent flood disasters causing large amounts of property damage each year.

China's flood control emergency management mechanism reflects six fields: laws, organization systems, flood control emergency plans, command systems, emergency duty teams, and flood control material storage.

The first field is law making. So far, the central government has issued the Water Law, Flood Control Law, Flood Control Regulations, and River Courses Management Regulations.

The second is an organization system. The central government established the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter in early 1950s, and its current leader is Vice Premier Hui Liangyu. A complete flood control system has also been set up at provincial, city and county levels.

The third is flood control emergency plans. The central government has made various plans for large, medium and small rivers involving flood control forecasts, surveys and reports, dispatches, emergency duty organizations, and medicine supplies.

The fourth is a command system. More than 20,000 hydrologic stations and observation stations have been built across the country. The flood and rainfall situation can be reported to the state flood control office within 30 minutes after the disasters happen. The command system can fully reflect the situation, such as where the floods happen and how serious they are. Meanwhile, the timely reports of disasters help the state office master a national situation of meteorology, rainfall, regimen, water conservancy projects, and affected population. The state office can make a final decision according to its gathered information.

The fifth is the emergency duty teams. There are over 100 flood control emergency teams at state level, 44 at provincial level and 250 at city and county level. Meanwhile, the Chinese People's Liberation Army also has established 19 professional emergency troops. Besides, a large group of non-governmental teams are needed to participate in combating floods and rushing to deal with emergencies at any time.

The sixth is flood control material storage. Material storage plays an important role in flood control and its annual amount is big. State-level warehouses distributing in all parts of the country are stored with large quantities of materials for emergency use, and provincial, city and county-level warehouses follow suit.

(China.org.cn June 14, 2003)