Torrential rains continued to batter southern China on Tuesday, causing severe flooding and prompting mass evacuations in parts of Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Huaiji County in Guangdong's Zhaoqing City was particularly hard hit, with urban streets submerged in flood water and tens of thousands evacuated.
The Sui River at the county's hydrological station reached a peak of 55.22 meters at 7:05 Wednesday local time, exceeding the warning level by 5.22 meters and marking the highest flood level since records began.
Authorities in Huaiji acted swiftly, initiating a top-level flood control emergency response on Tuesday evening. Schools, businesses, and transportation services were suspended, and all emergency shelters were opened.
Across the county, 19 towns have been affected, impacting over 78,000 people, with more than 29,000 evacuated. No casualties have been reported so far.
More than half of Huaiji's urban roads are still in flood, with water levels reaching up to three meters in some areas. Power and internet services are still disrupted.
Further south in Guangdong, Maoming City was swept by intense rainfall on Tuesday evening.
According to the meteorological department, the rainfall in the city's downtown area reached 100 to 140 millimeters in the two hours from 19:00 to 21:00 local time. The flood water in some street sections reached a depth of more than 0.5 meters, disrupting traffic and trapping some residents.
Also on Tuesday, heavy downpours lashed in central, southern, and coastal areas of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In Fangchenggang City, low-lying areas were submerged under up to 1.2 meters of water. Firefighters carried out emergency rescues to evacuate trapped residents.
Heavy rains flood cities in southern China
As the most important anchor of stability in the region, China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Manila, the Philippines on Tuesday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during his meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.
Wang stated that China has always upheld the equality of all countries and pursued a policy of good-neighborliness and friendship with neighboring countries.
He noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). China was the first major country to accede to the treaty, prompting other major countries to follow suit and significantly elevating ASEAN's international standing, said Wang, noting China will continue to support ASEAN Community-building and ASEAN's pursuit of unity and self-strengthening.
Wang mentioned that this year also marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, a pivotal year bridging past achievements and future cooperation. He added that the world is undergoing profound changes intertwined with turbulence, yet East Asia has generally maintained prosperity and stability -- a hard-won situation that all parties should cherish.
Wang said that China stands ready to work with ASEAN to deepen mutual trust, enhance mutual understanding and mutual support, safeguard the common interests of China and ASEAN, uphold the legitimate rights and interests of the Global South, and advance the development of a more just and reasonable international order.
Wang mentioned that China just successfully hosted the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, where it proposed the establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. The organization aims to boost AI capacity-building for Global South countries, enabling them to ride the wave of the times and advance their own development and modernization.
He said China looks forward to ASEAN's continued active participation in international AI cooperation and welcomes more ASEAN nations to join the organization.
On the South China Sea, Wang described it as a shared home for regional countries. He said South China Sea issues should not become a stumbling block to China-ASEAN relations.
Wang said certain forces within the Philippine military and maritime law enforcement ranks have deliberately provoked incidents in the South China Sea to serve the interests of external forces, undermining the process of improving China-Philippines relations as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Wang said China stands ready to work with ASEAN to remove disruptive factors, accelerate consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, jointly foster a new narrative of peace, stability, cooperation and friendship in the South China Sea, and keep the initiative on South China Sea issues firmly in the hands of regional countries.
Kao spoke highly of ASEAN-China relations and the outcomes of practical cooperation between the two sides, and thanked China for its firm support for ASEAN's centrality in regional architecture. He added that ASEAN and China are inseparable neighbors, and China is ASEAN's most important comprehensive strategic partner, with the two sides having established 65 cooperation mechanisms.
Kao said that ASEAN looks forward to closer strategic alignment with China, deeper practical cooperation in trade, investment, digital economy and other sectors, more people-to-people exchanges, and steady progress in ASEAN-China relations.
Kao noted that ASEAN endorses the "dual-track approach," supports acceleration of consultations on the COC, and strives to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. He said ASEAN is ready to work alongside China to jointly uphold regional peace and stability and make important contributions to development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Wang also met Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan on Tuesday.
China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN: FM
