Torrential rainfalls swept across north China on Sunday, forcing local authorities to urgently evacuate residents and repair infrastructure.
Heavy rainfall lashed Beijing's Miyun, Huairou, and Yanqing districts from Saturday night through Sunday morning, triggering emergency flood response measures.
The Miyun flood control and drought relief headquarters has activated a Level-I flood control emergency response to carry out relevant rescue operations. Contact has been established with all the affected villages, with more than 3,000 residents across 149 villages in 18 towns having been safely relocated as of 05:00 on Sunday morning.
Due to heavy rainfall, the inflow to the Miyun Reservoir has significantly increased, with the maximum flood peak inflow reaching 6,550 cubic meters per second. So the reservoir began to release water downstream at 15:00 on Sunday.
In Miyun District's Fengjiayu Town and Huairou District's Liulimiao Town, rescue teams transported assault boats and emergency supplies to severely affected villages to evacuate residents and clear mudslides.
The local power departments deployed 59 power-generating vehicles and 107 generators to restore electricity across both districts. As of 15:00 Sunday, power had been successfully restored to 3,240 households.
Many areas in north China's Hebei Province were hit by heavy downpours on Sunday afternoon, prompting emergency relief operations.
In Fuping County, Baoding City, power supply had been largely restored by 14:00. The main water supply network was reconnected, resuming normal water access for over 20,000 households.
Relief efforts underway as heavy rains sweep north China
Geoeconomic confrontation is the leading short-term global threat in 2026, the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned in its Global Risks Report 2026 released on Wednesday ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The report ranks geoeconomic confrontation as the top risk for 2026, followed by interstate conflict, extreme weather, societal polarization, and misinformation and disinformation. It also identifies geoeconomic confrontation as the most severe risk over the next two years.
"I think if there is to be one key takeaway from the report, it's that we are entering an age of competition and this new competitive order is then shaping current global risks, but it is also shaping and to some extent hindering our ability to actually cope with them. That's really the key takeaway. If we take a look at, the number one risk both for 2026 and two years out, it's dual economic confrontation. But then if we look at the risks 10 years out. It's really the climate and environment related risks. All of these things require global cooperation and that's where we're seeing a big backsliding in this new age of competition," said Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the WEF.
Economic risks showed the largest increase in the two-year outlook, with concerns over economic downturns, inflation, rising debt and potential asset bubbles intensifying amid geoeconomic tensions, the report said.
Environmental risks remain the most severe overall, led by extreme weather, biodiversity loss and critical changes to Earth systems. The report noted that three-quarters of respondents expect a turbulent environmental outlook.
Risks related to adverse outcomes of artificial intelligence rose sharply, climbing from 30th in the two-year horizon to fifth in the 10-year outlook, reflecting concerns over impacts on labor markets, society and security.
The 21st edition of the report draws on views from more than 1,300 experts, policymakers and industry leaders.
The WEF's annual meeting will be held in Davos from Jan 19 to 23 and draw nearly 3,000 guests from more than 130 countries and regions to participate.
"So overall, we are starting to see this shift away from what have traditionally been the ways in which people have been able to cooperate. Now, that is not to say that any of this is a foregone conclusion. And I think that's a really important message around the risks report. None of this is set in stone. All of this is in the hands of leaders. Whether they choose to cooperate and invest in resilience or whether they do not. So that's really what we'll be focused on next week in Davos bringing leaders together under this overall theme of 'a spirit of dialogue' and trying to reestablish relationships, cooperation and trust. That's the fundamental," said Zahidi.
WEF warns of rising geoeconomic risks in 2026
