The 2007 World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) will be held in China's northeastern city of Harbin from August 21 to 25, the organizing committee said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

 

More than 400 representatives from over 40 countries and regions will attend the conference held in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, to discuss cooperation in disaster reduction and disaster control.

 

During the conference, the participants will make efforts to mobilize the international community to implement the disaster reduction strategy reached at the 2005 WCDR and carry on the consensus reached during the 2006 WCDR, said Wang Shaoyu, the 2007 WCDR chairman.

 

He said that in the face of increasing natural disasters, the international community needs to have a coordinated strategy to forecast and prevent, so as to minimize losses.

 

Continuous rains have triggered floods and landslides in China's southwest, central and eastern areas, leading to heavy losses in terms of lives and property this year.

 

"The conference will act as a platform for the participants to exchange views on the latest development on disaster reduction and control," he said.

 

During the conference, an exhibition on emergency response technology for disasters and related equipment will be also held.

 

The conference is jointly held by the UNESCO, World Disaster Reduction Center, Ministry of Water Resources and the Harbin Institute of Technology.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2007)