Repair work has been quickly organized after torrential rain triggered a breach in a river embankment near the confluence of the Chaohe and Baihe rivers in Miyun District of Beijing, local authorities said Wednesday.
The breach was discovered earlier in the day, prompting the rapid deployment of armed police units to the site for urgent repairs. A temporary access road has already been restored, and reinforcement of the levee is expected to be completed within five hours.
Meanwhile, the Miyun Reservoir, a key water source for Beijing, remains above its flood control limit, indicating that it may continue to discharge water to downstream rivers, such as the Chaohe and Baihe rivers.
In recent days, extreme and severe convective weather, brought by warm, moist air from the edge of the subtropical high, occurred in Miyun and other mountainous areas in northern Beijing. Heavy rains also affected Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province, which are adjacent to Beijing.
On Tuesday, China's Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 350 million yuan (about 48.94 million U.S. dollars) in central government disaster relief funds to nine provincial-level regions, including Beijing, which were affected by rain-triggered floods.
River embankment repair underway in Beijing after torrential rain
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.
In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.
"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.
This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.
By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.
The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.
"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.
China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting
