Typhoon Matmo, the 21st named storm of the 2025 Pacific typhoon season, battered south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with two landfalls on Sunday and Monday, bringing torrential rain that triggered floods, landslides and road collapses.
In Ningming County of Chongzuo City, the water level of the Mingjiang River rose sharply due to the storm and upstream inflow. On Wednesday afternoon, the local hydrological station recorded the river at about 118 meters, nearly two meters above the alert threshold.
Low-lying roads in the county experienced flooding, prompting authorities to organize evacuations and implement traffic restrictions. The Mingjiang River navigation segment has been closed to vessels.
"Since 15:30 on Tuesday, we have enforced traffic controls on this section. The water level is still rising slowly at about two to three centimeters per hour," said Hu Xunfeng, a local official.
Meanwhile, in Longlin Various Nationalities Autonomous County, Baise City, heavy rains triggered multiple landslides early on Wednesday. Emergency response teams were dispatched immediately to conduct rescue and road repair operations. By 10:00 on Wednesday, the typhoon had caused 13 road disruptions within the county, and 11 of them have been restored.
Due to the continuous heavy rainfall, the water levels in the rivers of Baize City have risen. A retaining wall in the Baise-Yangxu section of the Guangzhou–Kunming Expressway shifted, causing a 30-meter-long crack and a significant subsidence of the road surface.
"Since 23:00 on Tuesday, the retaining wall has been gradually collapsing. By 14:00 on Wednesday, it completely caved in, leading to a significant road surface collapse that threatened the safety of vehicles bound for Baise City from Yunnan Province," said Lu Yaodong, an official of the Baise Expressway Operation Co., Ltd.
No accidents have been reported, as local authorities responded swiftly by closing the affected sections and directing stranded vehicles to evacuate. Recovery and repair work are ongoing as officials coordinate further response measures.
Typhoon Matmo lashes south China's Guangxi with flood, landslide
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
