County in southwest China's Guizhou ramps up emergency response after 2nd wave of flood

Local authorities ramped up urgent response and emergent evacuation after a new flood crest once again struck Rongjiang County in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Saturday, which had just suffered from flooding earlier.

Located at the confluence of three rivers, Rongjiang had already been hit by torrential rains earlier this week. On Saturday evening, a new flood crest passed through Rongjiang County. The flood peak water level of the Duliu River section in Rongjiang exceeded 253 meters, 1.63 meters above the guaranteed safety level, with a flow rate reaching 8,060 cubic meters per second.

Rongjiang upgraded its heavy rain warning and flood control response level earlier Saturday. Facing the new flood crest, Rongjiang released online the evacuation areas and road sections, while over 8,000 local Communist Party of China (CPC) members and militia forces, together with rescue teams from other regions, fanned out into seven designated flood zones and 29 community grids to check and evacuate residents in dangerous areas.

By the time the second round of flood hit Rongjiang County, more than 41,000 people had been relocated.

"The fourth flood zone is the new urban area of Rongjiang. Now the militia forces from the neighboring county have joined us, and we will return to the flood zone. We need to inspect low-lying residential areas for those who stayed behind and evacuate them. We will also identify other locations with potential hazards and assist with reinforcement efforts," said Tian Geng, deputy commander of Rongjiang's Fourth Flood Zone.

Many of those participating in rescue and relief efforts are local residents whose own homes were also hit by the flooding. Despite their own losses, they remained at their posts.

"My home was also flooded, but I have not been back home once until now. My families are handling things at home," said Tian.

County in southwest China's Guizhou ramps up emergency response after 2nd wave of flood

County in southwest China's Guizhou ramps up emergency response after 2nd wave of flood

County in southwest China's Guizhou ramps up emergency response after 2nd wave of flood

The 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting concluded in east China's Suzhou on Saturday, yielding fruitful results and laying significant groundwork for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

The trade ministers' meeting focused on "building an open and predictable regional and multilateral economic and trade order" and "fostering new engines of innovative and dynamic trade and investment cooperation."

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao briefed the media on the meeting's outcomes at a press conference.

Wang said the meeting issued a joint statement titled the Suzhou Statement, and approved the latest edition of the APEC Roadmap for Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Services.

All parties agreed to advance policy innovation and reform in services trade, build an open and predictable investment environment, improve regional trade facilitation and supply chain resilience, strengthen standards coordination, and enhance intellectual property protection, Wang told the media.

He also said that substantial progress was made on a framework document for regional digital trade cooperation and the ministers emphasized promoting inclusive AI development, strengthening AI-related trade, and bridging the digital divide to ensure shared benefits from digital transformation.

The minister noted that the outcomes of the meeting demonstrated strong cooperation willingness, highlighted an innovation-oriented approach, and reflected inclusiveness and shared benefits. "The fact that Asia-Pacific economies can come together, uphold the original aspiration of promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation while supporting economic growth and prosperity, and engage in in-depth discussions on the important issue of 'where multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation is headed,' fully demonstrates that open regionalism and true multilateralism enjoy broad support, and that mutual success and shared development serve the fundamental interests of all economies," Wang said.

2026 APEC trade ministers' meeting concludes with fruitful results