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Accidents and disasters in China
EconomyChina Economy

Global Impact: lives lost, crops damaged, homes destroyed. Beijing’s worst flooding in 140 years takes its toll

  • Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world
  • In this issue, we recap the recent devastation in China caused by record rainfall and floods, and asks what is really being done

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In this issue of the Global Impact newsletter, we recap the recent devastation in China caused by record rainfall and floods, and asks what is really being done after the deadly deluge brought back memories of recent tragedies. Photo: AP
Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world. Sign up now!

The summer of 2023 will, it appears, be remembered for the horrors brought on by extreme weather.

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As southern Europe and North America have been tested by heatwaves and fires, China’s capital city suddenly swung to the other extreme of the weather spectrum in late July – slammed by heavy rainfall that broke a swathe of meteorological records, followed by deadly floods.

The downpour lasted four days and Beijing recorded 744.8mm (29.32 inches) of rainfall - exceeding its average annual precipitation. The rainfall was the heaviest in 140 years – train passengers were left stranded, hundreds of flights were cancelled, and even the Forbidden City that hosted emperors for 600 years could not escape flooding.

03:01

At least 21 killed by Xian mudslide as China continues to be hit with heavy rain and floods

At least 21 killed by Xian mudslide as China continues to be hit with heavy rain and floods

Beijing’s mountainous and rural areas were the hardest hit, with roads and cars swept away and villages cut off from transport, water and electricity. More than 1 million people across the city were affected, and nearly 60,000 homes collapsed.

But the most unrecoverable loss was human lives. As Beijing’s death toll reached 33, with 18 people still missing, Premier Li Qiang summoned the State Council and called on officials to work on national flood relief and “maintain the stability of society”.
No wonder, the catastrophic flooding has dealt China another blow at a time when it is going all out to revitalise a sluggish post-Covid economy, while risks such as high youth unemployment and an uncertain external environment pose threats to that much-cherished stability.

Though sometimes, it’s hard to say if the lives claimed by natural disasters are the most profound horror, or if that distinction goes to bureaucrats who act in their own self-interest in the face of catastrophe.

02:14

Residents of flood-ravaged Chinese city take stock of losses, hope for compensation

Residents of flood-ravaged Chinese city take stock of losses, hope for compensation
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