Natural disasters in China cause over $3 billion in economic losses

Natural disasters occurring in China have caused loss of life and also damaged the country's economy.

Natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes that occurred in the first quarter of the year caused $3.28 billion in losses to the country's economy.

In a report published by the Ministry of Emergency Management, the economic loss was attributed to the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in January, as well as the landslide in Yunnan province and the flood disaster on the Yellow River.

It was reported that 79 people died in the disasters, and 110,000 people needed to be displaced or relocated.

It was stated that 26 regions and 10.4 million people were affected by the disasters.

The report stated that 424,000 hectares of land were affected by drought, and that sandstorms were seen in the northwest of the country, while forest fires occurred in the south.

In the report for the previous year published by the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management in January, it was stated that natural disasters caused $47.7 billion in direct economic losses and that 691 people lost their lives.

The ministry had announced a 3-year plan to combat problems that hinder response times during disasters and accidents, including safety deficiencies in sectors such as mining.