Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu has called on flood and drought combating departments across China to make full preparations and take active measures to deal with possible disasters.

Hui, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said on Friday that heavy rainfall has been reported in the valleys of the Yellow, Nenjiang and Songhua rivers and incessant, sustained high temperatures and drought have hit most of southern China recently.

In some areas of south China, dry spells have been spreading quickly, he acknowledged.

Hui, who heads the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFCDRH), called on the SFCDRH and flood control and drought relief departments at all levels to monitor rainfall, rivers, floods and droughts closely in relevant areas, and to come up with and prompt, efficient measures to combat floods and drought.

The SFCDRH also issued a notice, urging all localities to respond to Vice-Premier Hui's call and strengthen monitoring of changes in the grave drought and flood situation.

Substantial efforts should be made to guarantee the safety the general public, ensure water supply and reduce losses to a minimum, the notice urged.

Flood crests were reported on the Nenjiang River in northeast China and the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the second longest in China, on Friday.

Meanwhile, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in central and east China have been struck by the most serious dry spells in more than a decade since 1991.

(China Daily August 4, 2003)