According to the official Xinhua news agency, Hubei province in China is the most recent to issue a level four emergency drought warning due to “continued hot weather” and minimal rainfall in at least 84 counties. The new declaration has an impact on the province’s 5.7 million residents in central China.
To get through the crisis and ensure supply to families, the Sichuan province and the vast Chongqing municipality in southwest China decided to extend the industrial power cutbacks until August 24.
To get through the crisis and ensure supply to families, the Sichuan province and the vast Chongqing municipality in southwest China decided to extend the industrial power cutbacks until August 24.
Other industries like photovoltaics, electronics, and chips that have significant bases in Sichuan or Chongqing are also impacted, though some have told the Global Times that the overall impact is minimal.
In addition to Chongqing, the drought, which Chinese media has described as the worst since 1961, has primarily afflicted huge parts of the provinces of Hubei, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Hunan.
The Yangtze River, China’s longest river, which passes through six provinces, has seen reduced water flow due to low rainfall and high temperatures. The efforts to replace the water in the river have been hampered by reservoirs drying up in the heat.
