China's Ministry of Water Resources is seeking assistance from the world's computer giant, the Compaq Computer Corp., to establish a water resource solution center which helps oversee and minimize damage caused by floods.

"We hope that the proposed center can provide effective system solutions for the administration to rationally distribute water resources and oversee the floods," Philip Yu, president of Compaq Great China, told the English newspaper.

Spending of the establishment of the center is estimated at some one million US dollars, China Daily said.

China is hit by floods almost every year, resulting in gargantuan economic losses accounting for billions of yuan.

According to China Daily, Compaq's solutions for water resources focus on how to accurately monitor and assess the water situation in selected regions via computer systems.

Michael Adams, a director with the water resource and power utility department of Compaq China, suggested that China should pay more attention to forecasting and monitoring floods rather than to rescue efforts after one has started.

"The application of computer systems can get the point of anti- flood drive," Adams was quoted as saying.

Experts say that the computer solutions for water resources include a geography information system, a monitoring system, remote sensing, emergency management and a forecast system.