A senior Chinese land official has said that China faced a grave task in combating geologic hazards this year and called for necessary precautions.

Highlands and mountainous areas in many parts of China, including Yunnan, Sichuan and Zhejiang, would continue to suffer dilapidation and landslides this year. Such incidents would mainly occur from May to September, when there would be frequent rains and frozen ground beginning to thaw, Shou Jiahua, vice minister of Land and Resources, said at a national geologic hazard prevention conference Wednesday.

She said in cities located in mountainous regions and sites of major construction projects, dilapidation and landslides might increase owing to earth digging and dozing, underground water pumping, water storage in reservoirs and farmland irrigation.

China has successfully predicted more than 1,000 geologic hazards since 1998, saving the lives of nearly 60,000 people.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2004)