Summer floods cost China US$25b

Summer floods in China have left more than 200 people dead or missing and caused US$25 billion (HK$195 billion) in direct damage, an emergency management official says.

The floods struck major river systems across the central and southern parts of the country. Major cities have been largely spared by the flooding, but the impact compounds losses to the economy from the coronavirus outbreak that began in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

Vice Minister of Emergency Management Zhou Xuewen told reporters that 219 people were listed as dead or missing and 54,000 homes had been destroyed.

Economic losses of 178.9 billion yuan were 15.9 percent higher than the average from flood damage over the past five years.

ASSOCIATED PRESS