China is facing another difficult summer of extreme weather, with floods, landslides and powerful typhoons affecting communities across the country. Recent disasters have already caused heavy loss of life. In Gansu province, flash floods triggered landslides that killed 25 people, while a mountain collapse in Chongqing killed another 51, bringing the reported death toll from these two incidents to at least 76 people. The country has also been hit by powerful typhoon-related rainfall, flooding roads, damaging infrastructure and forcing people to leave vulnerable areas. President Xi Jinping has called for a major shift from reacting to disasters after they happen towards preventing them before they strike, with stronger monitoring, faster warnings and better coordination between authorities.
The focus is now also turning towards strengthening the infrastructure that protects people from extreme weather. Xi has called for closing gaps in flood-control and drainage systems, particularly in northern China, while making greater use of AI, drones and satellite technology to identify risks and improve early warnings. The scale of the recent disasters shows why this matters: in Guangxi, flooding linked to Typhoon Maysak affected more than 1.6 million people, while more than 320,000 people were relocated or evacuated and at least 159 people were reported dead by August 21. For China, the challenge is becoming much bigger than dealing with individual floods or landslides. As extreme rainfall, typhoons and other weather events become more disruptive, the country needs to rethink how its cities, mountains, rivers, roads and emergency systems are prepared for a changing climate. More