China has kept flooding under control so far this year, said Zhang Zhitong, an official with the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, on Monday.

Water levels in some sections of the Yangtze, Huaihe and Xijiang rivers topped the warning line this summer, but other rivers and lakes remained safe.

However, as of September 15, flood-related disasters had killed 1,029 people and caused losses totaling 64.7 billion yuan (US$7.8 billion), while 7.6 million hectares of farmland were reportedly affected by the floods, the official said.

Zhang pointed out that this year's death toll was sharply lower than during the same period in the 1990s. All levels of flood control and drought relief departments have formed complete emergency plans, said Zhang.

The central provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Henan, western Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Zhejiang Province in the east suffered heavy losses in this summer's flooding.

Zhang added that China should improve its ability to deal with mountain torrents and landslides, which caused nearly three-quarters of the deaths this summer.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2004)