Food security concerns as heavy rain continues to batter southern China

BEIJING • Heavy rain continued to batter several provinces in southern China, including Guangdong, with 113 rivers across the country flooded above warning levels on Wednesday, state television reported.

Days of rainfall and floods have closed schools, businesses and public transport in affected areas. Footage on state media showed rescue crews on boats paddling across waterlogged roads to rescue trapped residents. The flooding has disrupted the lives of almost half a million people in the southern parts of China.

In Shaoguan city, a manufacturing hub in Guangdong province, factories were ordered to halt production as water levels reached a 50-year high, state television reported. Guangdong's emergency management department said the rainfall has ruined nearly 30ha of crops and caused the collapse of more than 1,700 houses, with financial losses totalling 1.8 billion yuan (S$373 million), Xinhua news agency reported.

Residents in Yingde, a city in Guangdong where the flood warning had been upgraded to Level I, said water and power had been cut as the area flooded. China has a four-tier alert system where Level I signals the most severe flooding.

"The water came very fast, and I believe many have not prepared foodstuffs in their homes," said a user on microblog Weibo.

Stores have run out of staples such as oil and rice as residents rushed to stockpile supplies. Yingde authorities have relocated some residents and advised others not to leave their homes.

In Jiangxi province, trapped villagers were rescued after floods washed away roads and bridges, state television reported.

The unrelenting rains and floods across the southern provinces have reignited food security concerns. The south is a major producing region for rice, fruits and vegetables. Heavy rainfall this month has flooded swathes of farmland in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday that robust grain production is critical to ensuring stable consumer prices and improving food security, Xinhua reported, citing a State Council meeting. The council said it will adopt continued measures for flood control and disaster relief to protect people's lives and property.

NYTIMES, REUTERS, XINHUA, BLOOMBERG