"No. 1 Flood of 2025" hits Taihu Lake in east China's Jiangsu

The Taihu Lake in east China's Jiangsu Province -- the third largest freshwater lake in the country -- has been hit by its "No. 1 Flood" of this year since Saturday, as Typhoon Co-may, the 8th typhoon of this year, has brought heavy rainfall in the vicinity of the lake.

In response, China's Ministry of Water Resources has assessed the rainfall and water conditions in the Taihu Lake Basin, making arrangements for flood prevention and control.

Due to the heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Co-May, the water level on the Taihu Lake rose to 3.87 meters at 16:00 on Saturday, 0.07 meters higher than the warning threshold.

The Ministry of Water Resources is closely monitoring the flood situation in the Taihu Lake basin and has dispatched a task force to support local flood prevention and control efforts.

"No.1 Flood" is a classification given to the first flood reaching a certain standard of severity in a single river each year.

The Ministry of Water Resources has initiated a level IV emergency response for flood prevention and control in east China's Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in advance.

"We've issued separate instructions to all the relevant provincial-level regions, urging them to ensure the safety of small and medium-sized reservoirs during flood seasons and to implement flood prevention and control measures for small and medium-sized rivers. We've also dispatched task forces to the front lines to provide assistance and guidance," said Luo Jinjun, director of the Flood Control Division of the Department of Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention under the Ministry of Water Resources.

The Taihu Lake Basin Management Bureau under the ministry has coordinated flood prevention and control efforts in the basin, urging the competent local authorities to advance the dispatch of sluice pumps along rivers and coasts to enhance drainage efforts and pre-lower the water levels on the Taihu Lake and the river network, and to make every effort to drain the floodwater from the river network early enough, while effectively utilizing the Taihu Lake's storage capacity to retain upstream floodwaters.

"The Taihu Lake Basin Management Bureau has instructed the Wangting Interchange on the Wangyu River to do all it can to discharge the floodwater, increasing the flow of floodwater discharge from Taihu Lake to the Wangyu River," said Xu Junhao, an official with the Wuxi City Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

"We have suspended navigation on the Taihu Lake. Meanwhile, we are conducting video surveillance through the AIS (Automatic Identification System). In case of any emergency, we will be ready to dispatch ships for rescue at any time," said Zhang Min, an official with the Suzhou Transportation Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Detachment.

"No. 1 Flood of 2025" hits Taihu Lake in east China's Jiangsu

The sixth China-Russia Media Forum, which was held in Beijing on Tuesday, discussed promoting friendship between and supporting development of the two countries through media cooperation.

Li Shulei, who is a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the forum and delivered a keynote speech.

Attendees said that under the strategic guidance of heads of the two countries, China-Russia relations have maintained stable, healthy and high-level development, creating a model for a new type of international relations and relations between neighboring major countries.

In May this year, the heads of state of the two countries signed and issued a joint statement on further deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, explicitly proposing deepened cooperation in the media sector between the two countries.

The media sectors of China and Russia should fully implement the important consensus reached between the heads of state, adhere consistently to the general direction of the China-Russia friendship, and foster a positive public opinion atmosphere for the common development of China and Russia, attendees said.

They also said that the media of the two countries should focus on major issues such as the alignment of China's 15th Five-Year Plan with Russia's economic and social development strategies, and report in depth on achievements of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.

They noted that the media should build bridges of people-to-people connectivity, promote exchange and mutual learning between the Chinese and Russian civilizations, join hands to address the challenges of digital and intelligent transformation, and work together to enhance the influence of the media.

The forum was hosted by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Russian Presidential Executive Office, and organized by China's Xinhua News Agency and Russia's TASS News Agency.

Approximately 140 officials and media representatives from both countries attended the forum. During the event, the two sides signed 11 documents on deepening media cooperation between China and Russia.

6th China-Russia Media Forum eyes supporting development of both countries