China: Natural disasters leave 1,500 dead, missing annually

Natural disasters left about 1,500 people dead or missing annually from 2011 to 2015 in China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Thursday.

Disasters affected 310 million people each year during the same period, displacing more than 9 million and destroying 700,000 houses, said the ministry.

Disasters in the past five years led to an annual direct economic losses of 380 billion yuan (58.3 billion U.S. dollars), it added.

The number of people dead or missing in natural disasters in the past five years dropped 93 percent from the 2006 to 2010 period, the ministry said.
 [Xinhua -china.org.cn]
25/3/16