A sudden hailstorm caught people off guard in Beijing on Saturday evening.
Heavy rain and lightning were also reported across multiple districts, with Damozhuang Village in Mentougou District recording the highest precipitation at 31.1 millimeters.
The municipal government has issued a yellow alert for lightning, and several districts such as Dongcheng, Xicheng, Haidian, and Chaoyang have issued yellow alerts for hailstorms.
Weather authorities forecast that a scattered thunderstorm will move across the capital from west to east, with brief downpours and high winds expected in some areas.
China uses a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe level, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Sudden hailstorm hits Beijing
Sudden hailstorm hits Beijing
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.
The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.
Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.
Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.
A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.
Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting
