China's Ministry of Water Resources reported on Monday that 34 rivers across the country remain above warning levels as of 09:00, prompting authorities to maintain a yellow alert for flood.
Compared with Sunday, five more rivers were added onto the ministry's list for flood monitoring, as the flood season continues to pose widespread challenges across the country.
The affected waterways are located in several provincial-level regions, including the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south, Yunnan Province in the southwest and Zhejiang Province in the east, with water levels exceeding the warning thresholds by up to 7.01 meters in the most extreme cases.
According to the ministry's forecast, from Monday to Wednesday, heavy rainfall is expected to trigger a numbered flood on Guangxi's Yujiang River, a classification used for significant flood events requiring formal tracking and response.
Additional risks loom in the country's northeastern and eastern regions, with heightened cautions being maintained for the Heilongjiang River and the Wusuli River, both major waterways in northeast China, and the Taihu Lake, a major freshwater lake located in the Yangtze River Delta plain in east China.
An orange alert was issued for flash flood for the eastern areas of Fujian Province in east China, with a high probability of sudden flooding over the 24 hours through 08:00 on Tuesday.
China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for flood, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
34 rivers remain above warning levels as China maintains flood alert
China's ambitious "fitness for all" nationwide public health campaign and its determined drive to become a leading sporting nation are unlocking vast opportunities for sportswear businesses in the country's massive consumer market, said Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden.
Speaking in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Shanghai, Gulden said the German sportswear giant's localized approach to the Chinese market is a direct response to competition from stronger-than-ever local brands.
Under its "In China, For China" strategy, the company has delegated full product and creative control to its China team, which now designs and develops roughly half of Adidas products locally to match regional fashion trends and consumer preferences, with a shorter supply chain made possible by producing on the ground.
"Competition forces you to be better. And I'm sure that the reason why we have chosen to do 'In China, For China' model is because of competition. The old days when Adidas and all the brands were just exporting, I would say, concepts into China that were the same as in Europe and in America is over. That's why we have designers and creatives that work in China on a supply chain that is shorter because you can produce here. And that is of course to compete also against the local brands by making sure that we are better," he said.
Noting the evolution of sportswear from functional attire to everyday fashion, Gulden welcomed China's policies encouraging people to get active, saying they are bringing more consumers into the sportswear industry.
"Most sports products today are not being used for sports. They're being used as a comfort shoe or as a lifestyle item, and it's part of our life. It's very, very good that China is pushing sports more. The more people that do sports, the more importance sports get both from selling products, but also to widen the audience for sports culture products," Gulden said.
China's "fitness for all" strategy aims to get around 40 percent of the population exercising regularly by the end of the decade, backed by thousands of new and upgraded community sports facilities, expanded venue space and "15-minute fitness circles" designed to put public exercise areas within a short walk of every urban and rural resident.
China's push to become leading sports nation benefits sportswear businesses: Adidas CEO
