On Monday afternoon, a senior meteorologist blamed inaccurate forecasting, particularly in relation to Typhoon Matsa’s effect in Beijing, on China’s deficiencies in data analysis compared to other countries.

During an online discussion session at www.tom.com, Qian Chuanhai of the National Meteorological Center (NMC) also said the rarity of typhoons reaching northern China meant Beijing Meteorological Bureau lacked enough experience to make reliable predictions about them.

The weekend before last, the capital’s weather forecasters had warned the typhoon would bring Beijing its “heaviest storms in ten years” on August 8, but these failed to materialize. Instead there was some light drizzle in the early hours of August 9.

Qian said China lags far behind Japan and European nations in being able to analyze meteorological data, despite being one of the few countries in the world to have both a polar-orbiting satellite and a stationary satellite.

He added that the gap may widen if no efforts are made to improve the situation, and said China Meteorological Administration has already issued a strategic meteorological development plan with measures to improve forecast quality and foster talent.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting August 17, 2005)