Central Government Sends More Officials to Drought-hit AreasState Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Water Resources on Wednesday sent five more working groups to direct local battles against the lingering drought.The five groups went to Hebei, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu provinces and Inner Mongolia and Ningxia autonomous regions. So far, the headquarters and the ministry have jointly assigned nine working teams to the drought-hit areas. At the just-closed national teleconference on fighting drought, Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao urged the central government departments concerned to provide drought-relief assistance to the affected areas. Most of China's north and northeastern regions have experienced droughts and high temperatures between 37-40 centigrade degrees. Some areas have not had rain for more than 200 days. |
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