China's Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday released an implementation plan for geological disaster prevention and management through 2030, aiming to build a stronger overall capacity to withstand geological hazards.
As of the end of 2025, more than 270,000 geological disaster sites had been registered nationwide, posing potential threats to the safety of more than 11 million people.
Spanning the country's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), the newly released plan addresses the specific hazards associated with these sites. It also places a central focus on enhancing the capacity to respond to climate change risks.
The plan aims to improve and refine an efficient and scientific geological hazard prevention and control system and shore up capacity to withstand disasters at the grassroots level.
Crucially, the plan designates 21 new key geological hazard prevention and control zones.
"The key prevention and control zones delineated this time have been expanded from the 14th Five-Year Plan period, adding new key prevention and control areas such as the Yarlung Zangbo hydropower project construction site and the Yanshan-Taihang Mountain region, while further refining the key prevention and control zones in the southeastern hilly regions and southwestern mountainous areas," said Yang Xudong, senior engineer at the Geological Disaster Technical Guidance Center under the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The scope of some geological disasters has been expanded in recent years due to to extreme weather. In response, the plan specifies that a dual-control approach integrating both hazard sites and risk zones will be implemented across 17 key provinces, as well as in counties, cities, and districts designated as key or secondary prevention and control areas.
According to Yang, another clear focus of the plan will be on bolstering the prevention of sudden geological disasters, such as widespread shallow landslides and debris flows triggered by extreme rain.
"It is difficult to address such disasters solely by equipment and personnel, which has become an urgent challenge in geological disaster prevention and control. The plan outlines seven key tasks covering dynamic surveys, monitoring and early warning, comprehensive management, and 'disaster sites plus risk zones' dual-control management, shifting the approach to geological disaster prevention toward a focus on enhancing climate change capacity and mitigating geological disaster risks," the senior engineer said.
The detailed geological hazard surveys will make use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twins to improve the accuracy of hazard identification and disaster early warning.
China releases plan to promote geological disaster prevention
The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s consumer price inflation eased in July, breaking a multi-month accelerating trend amid stabilizing energy prices and lower farm goods prices, statistical ministry data showed Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.8 percent in July from a year earlier, falling below 3.0 percent in three months, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
It marked a noticeable deceleration from 3.2 percent in June, after accelerating from 2.0 percent in February to 2.2 percent in March, 2.6 percent in April and 3.1 percent in May.
Headline inflation, however, stayed above the central bank's mid-term inflation target of 2 percent for 11 straight months since September 2025.
The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent in July, turning toward monetary tightening in about three and a half years since January 2023.
Oil products price gained 15.5 percent last month, after spiking 24.7 percent in the previous month. The price lifted overall inflation by 0.60 percentage points.
Price for gasoline and diesel jumped 12.6 percent and 21.5 percent each, while computer price shot up 25.1 percent amid soaring semiconductor price. Price for industrial products, including oil products and processed food, advanced 3.7 percent in July compared to the same month last year, slower than an expansion of 4.4 percent in the previous month.
Processed food price added 1.0 percent in July from a year earlier, faster than a growth of 0.9 percent in the previous month.
Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products climbed 0.9 percent in July from a year earlier, after picking up 3.2 percent in June.
Agricultural products price slipped 2.2 percent last month, turning downward from an increase of 1.1 percent in the prior month. Those for livestock and fishery products swelled 4.4 percent and 3.9 percent each.
Rice price mounted 7.9 percent, but those for napa cabbage, watermelon, spinach, cucumber and zucchini retreated in double figures. Those for beef, imported beef, pork, egg and mackerel increased in single digits.
Price for electricity, natural gas and tap water was up 0.4 percent in July on a yearly basis.
City gas charge and waterworks fee added in single digits, but heating cost dipped 0.2 percent.
Services price surged 2.6 percent last month, hiking up the headline inflation by 1.46 percentage points.
Public service price rose 1.4 percent, while private service price, including eating-out costs, expanded 3.5 percent.
The eating-out expense gained 2.6 percent, and the private service price excluding the dining-out cost jumped 4.1 percent.
Affected by a spike in fuel surcharges from rising oil prices, international airfares soared 21.7 percent last month.
Housing rent, including Jeonse and monthly rent, was up 1.1 percent in July from a year earlier.
Jeonse is the country's unique contract between two households where a landlord grants two-year residential rights to a tenant, who in turn lends a certain amount of money, or a deposit, to the landlord.
The livelihood items index, which gauges prices for daily necessities, climbed 2.5 percent, while the fresh food index, which measures prices for fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetables, declined 2.3 percent.
Demand-side inflationary pressure lingered. Core consumer price index, which excludes volatile agricultural and oil products, appreciated 2.5 percent last month.
The OECD-method core price, excluding volatile food and energy costs, went up 2.6 percent in the cited month.
ROK's consumer price inflation eases to 2.8 pct in July
