Direct economic losses from floods this year reached 48.5 billion yuan (7.08 billion US dollars) as of Thursday, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

The floods left 305 people dead and 73 missing in 23 localities, with more than 61.4 million people and 3.64 million hectares of farmland affected and 249,000 houses destroyed, the office said.

Zhang Zhitong, vice director of the office, said two rain systems hit northeast and northern China, including Beijing, and the southwest and south in early July, which triggered floods in 11 jurisdictions.

However, Zhang said that the death toll and the number of homes destroyed fell by 73 percent and 69 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year as the central and local governments undertook preventive steps.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2008)