Typhoon Wipha causes heavy rains, power outages after landfall in Vietnam

Typhoon Wipha made landfall in northern Vietnam around 09:30 local time on Tuesday, bringing torrential rains, power outages, and infrastructure damage, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The typhoon struck coastal areas between Hung Yen and Ninh Binh provinces, sustaining maximum winds of 88 km per hour, equivalent to level 8-9 on the Beaufort scale, with gusts reaching level 11, according to Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Coastal provinces have been placed on emergency alert, and airlines have canceled flights.

At around 8:30 a.m., a suspension bridge in Dien Bien province partially collapsed due to prolonged heavy rains, injuring four people, the Voice of Vietnam reported.

Power outages were reported in parts of Tien Hai commune in Hung Yen province.

Residents were seen bringing fuel containers to gas stations to purchase fuel for generators, local media outlet VnExpress reported.

Meanwhile, central provinces such as Thanh Hoa and Nghe An recorded rainfall of 150 to 200 mm, raising the risk of landslides and flash floods, local authorities warned.

The Vietnamese government has presented some protection measures to farmland, fishponds and forests, and they have mobilized 350,000 soldiers and officers to participate in the disaster prevention job.

Typhoon Wipha causes heavy rains, power outages after landfall in Vietnam

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Friday chaired a State Council executive meeting during which arrangements were made to implement a package of policies that will boost domestic demand by leveraging coordinated fiscal and financial measures.

The meeting noted that the package is an important measure to expand effective demand and innovate the approaches of macro-control.

Efforts should be made to refine loan interest subsidy policies for businesses in the services sector and personal consumption, aiming to expand the supply of high-quality services and boost household purchasing power, the meeting said.

It said that loan interest subsidy policies will be implemented for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with an eye to bolstering private investment, and to lowering financing thresholds and costs for companies.

It stressed that basic public services should be provided based on an individual's place of permanent residence. Efforts will be made to address the most pressing concerns of permanent residents without a local household registration, and on improving their access to education, healthcare and employment services.

Chinese premier stresses coordination of fiscal, financial policies to boost demand