By September 20, natural disasters across China had killed 1,630 people and caused economic losses of 163 billion yuan (US$19.9 billion), according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs Thursday.

China is one of the few countries that are most vulnerable to natural disasters. Since the 1990s, economic losses caused by natural disasters have been rising sharply, said Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Jia Zhibang at a press conference.

This year, China has been haunted by floods, typhoons, droughts, hailstorms and snowstorms, freeze, landslides, mud flows and earthquakes. By September 20, the disasters had claimed 1,630 lives, toppled 14,500 houses. A total of 13.35 million people were evacuated, he said.

Southern China was hit by severe floods, which caused mountain torrents, landslides and mud flows. Some areas like provinces of Hainan and Yunnan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region suffered from severe droughts rarely seen in recent years, he said.

Jia noted that six typhoons have landed in the Chinese mainland this year, causing great losses in some regions, coastal areas in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian provinces in particular.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2005)