China allocates funds to support agricultural production in flood-hit regions

BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China has allocated 238 million yuan (about 33.35 million U.S. dollars) of funds to assist in disaster relief and agricultural production restoration in five flood-stricken regions, the Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.

The money will be used to manage flood-damaged crops, restore damaged agricultural facilities, and support flood control and drainage of waterlogged fields, amid efforts to mitigate the impacts of floods on agricultural production in Henan, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan and Shaanxi, the ministry said.

On Tuesday, China's national observatory continued to issue an orange alert for rainstorms, the second-highest level in the country's four-tier warning system. It is expected that heavy rain of up to 200 mm in the coming 24 hours will lash many regions including the capital Beijing and neighboring Hebei and Tianjin, as well as Chongqing, Yunnan and Guangdong.

The observatory also issued a yellow alert for severe convective weather, with thunderstorms, gales and hail likely to hit regions such as Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei and Tianjin on Tuesday and Wednesday.