Disclaimer
This report was compiled by an ADRC visiting researcher (VR) from ADRC
member countries.
The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of theADRC. The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on themaps in the report also do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by theADRC.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Liu NanJiang
National Disaster Reduction Center of China

2012-09

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Contents
General information of China
China
Natural Hazards in China
China
Disaster Management SystemDisaster Management Strategy, Policy, andplan
The main countermeasures for the nextstep (Research Topic)
Topic)

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

the geographical location of china
Located in eastern Asia and the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, China has 9.6
million square kilometers of land area. Its eastern and southern continental
coastal line lasts more than 18,000 kilometers.

china

It has 7,600 islands of various sizes, of which Taiwan is the largest, with anarea of 35,798 square kilometers.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Forbidden City in Beijing

Tiananmen Square in Beijing

the administrative zone of china

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China has 4 municipalities
directly under the central
government, 23 provinces, 5autonomous regions and 2
special administrativeregions.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

the terrain of China
The western part ofChina is higher than theeastern part of China. The
mountains, plateaus andhills cover about 67% of thetotal land area, whereas
the basins and plains makeup near to 33% of the total
land area.

In the west is the highest Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which stands
more than 4,000 meters above the sea level and has beenrenowned as the “roof of the world”. The Qomolangma Mount,8,844.43 meters high, is the world’s highest peak.

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the precipitation of China

In general, theeastern part of China
has more precipitation
than the western partof China.

The southeast coast up to 1500 mm above, only 200 mm inland

northwest.

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the temperature of China

 Generally speaking,the south is warmer
than the north.

 The temperature varied greatly from south of China to northof China and the greatest difference is up to approx 50
degree centigrade.

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The population of China

China is the most populous country in the world. April 28,
2011, the National Bureau of Statistics released the sixth
national census data show that the country's total populationof 1.3 billion people.

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the population of China
Index

2010population(million)

Proportion

The country's population

1328.02

100%

Among country: the urban
population

606.6746%

Rural population

721.3554%

Among country: male

683.5752%

Female644.4549%

Among country: age 0-14

251.6619%

age 15-59

916.4769%

age more than 60

159.8912%

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National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Brief Introduction on China’s Natural Disasters

China is one of the countries in the world that suffers fromthe most serious natural disasters due to its vast territory,complicated climatic, geographical and geological conditions
and fragile ecological conditions.
Over 70% of China’s cities and 50% of the population arelocated in the regions frequently hit by major meteorological,
seismological, geological and maritime disasters.

National DisasterReduction Centerof ChinaFeaturesof naturaldisasters
in China

FloodDroughtWindstorm
Hail
Dust Storm
TyphoonLow temperatureand freeze
Snow
Earthquake
Landslide
Debris flow

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Multiple types, High frequency

 China has witnessed such disasters as flood andwaterlog, drought, windstorm, hail, dust storm,typhoon, low temperature and freeze, snow,
earthquake, landslide, debris flow and so on.
 Of all the natural disasters, flood, drought andearthquake have led to the most severe losses,
accounting for 80% to 90% of the total.
 Since 1949, major drought would happen more than 8times, flood and waterlog 7 times and typhoon 8 times
each year.

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Regional discrepancy

 The major hazards are droughts, snowstorms, and earthquakes
in western and northern regions; The hazards are mainly
floods, landslides,droughts, and earthquakes
in northeast, southwest andcentral regions; The major hazards arefloods, typhoons,subsidence, and droughts
in southeast regions.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Severe losses in china
 Since 1990 to 2011, natural disasters have annually caused
about 400 million people affected, 4 million houses collapsed
and 10 million people evacuated, leading to the direct lossesof nearly 200 billion Yuan.
 Natural disasters have become an important factor that
restricts the harmonious and sustainable socio-economic
development of China.

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wenchuan earthquake• At 14:28 on May 12 2008, 8 Earthquake occurred in
Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province.The earthquake isthe second serious earthquake disaster since thefounding of China. A total of 10 provinces, 417 counties,
4,667 townships and 48,810 villages and 4625.6 million
people were affected, 1510.6 million people emergency
relocated, 69,227 people died, 17,923 people missing,
37.4 million people injured, 7967000 houses collapsed,
24543000 houses damaged, tolls 121 billion dollar
losses.
• At 3:40 p.m. on May 12th, the National Disaster
Reduction Committee, Ministry of Civil Affairs to start
second emergency response, promoted to firstemergency response at 22:15 on the May 12.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Snow disasterNational Disaster Reduction Center of China

Low temperature and snowstorm in china• Low temperature and snowstorm disasters
affected 21 provinces in January 2008 toFebruary. 136 people died and missing, 166
million people emergency relocated, 485,000
houses collapsed, 1,686,000 houses
damaged,21 billion dollar losses.
• January 21 to 28, the National Disaster
Reduction Committee, Ministry of Civil Affairs
start the four emergency response in 20
provinces.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Snow disasterNational Disaster Reduction Center of China

Yushu earthquake in Qinghai Province• At 7:49 on April 14th 2010, 7.1 Earthquake occurred inYushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu County.22.3 million people were affected, 2698 people died and270 people missing, 188,000 emergency relocated,
246,000 houses collapsed, 51,000 houses damaged ,3billion dollar losses.
• At 9:00 on April 14th, the National Disaster Reduction
Committee, Ministry of Civil Affairs to start second
emergency response.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Snow disasterNational Disaster Reduction Center of Chinazhouqu Mudslides••

At August 7, The Mudslides occurred in Zhouqu County, Gannan province,
1434 people died and 331 missing.
At August 7, 2010, the National Disaster Reduction Committee, Ministry ofCivil Affairs to start second emergency response.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Administrative System in china

 National Commission for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) isresponsible for establishing state policies, regulations,guidelines and action plans on disaster mitigation. Besides, It
is also responsible for organizing major national disaster
reduction activities, directing local efforts and facilitating crossborder interactions & collaborations.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

NCDR is composed of 34
ministries and bureaus, andthe standing bodies of it
include general office, boardof experts and NDRCC(National Disaster Reduction
Center of China).

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Legal System and Framework

 So far, more than 30 laws andregulations have been promulgatedon earthquake preparation, fireprevention, flood preparation,
weather forecast and sandstorm
prevention and management.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Structure of Disaster Management

National platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
China established the National Commission for DisasterReduction (NCDR), the Office of State Flood Control andDrought Relief Headquarters (SFDH), the National DisasterReduction Committee is responsible for all natural disasters
Risk Reduction, It composed of 34 ministries and bureaus.
Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters (SFDH) only in charge of flood and drought
disaster Risk Reduction, It composed of 5 ministries andbureaus.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

Structure of Disaster Management

National and Local Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction
There are 7 national organizations for Disaster Risk Reductionin china. It included the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry ofAgriculture, Ministry of Water Resources, Bureau of Forestry,
Bureau of Oceanic, Bureau of earthquake, Bureau of Meteorology,
The Ministry of Civil Affairs is responsible for all natural Disaster
Relief, the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for biologicaldisasters risk reduction, the Ministry of Water Resources isresponsible for flood and drought disasters risk reduction, theBureau of Forestry is responsible for forest fires risk reduction, ,Bureau of Oceanic in charge of marine disasters risk reduction, ,Bureau of earthquake in charge of earthquake disasters riskreduction, the Bureau of Meteorology provide other six Ministries
and commissions meteorological Technical Support.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

1. Integration of Disaster Reduction into NationalDevelopment Plans the disaster reduction has been
included into the state’s development
plan. The Chinese government has
placed disaster risk reduction as a toppriority on the agenda of the state andlocal socio-economic developmentplan.
 A state emergency response system
has been gradually built and improved.
The “State 12th Five-year Plan forDisaster Reduction” has beenformulated.

National 12 Five-Year Plan for
Integrated DisasterReduction

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

2. Improvement of disaster information management

With the development of disaster management, Chinese
government pay more attention to Disaster Information
Management. So MCA and NDRCC developed National
Disaster Information Management System in 2008. Since 2008,
All disaster management using the system submitted thedisaster imformation to the National Commission for Disaster
Reduction, each county in China have one user by National
Disaster Information Management System, There are 5000
disaster management user at present,.
According to the Regulation on Natural Disaster Statistics,
civil affairs departments at county level are required to reportdisaster information within two hours after the disaster occurs.
All disaster Information will be collected and published bycounty user in National Disaster Information Management
System.

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2. Improvement of disaster information management

National Disaster Information
Management System

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

3. Enhancement of disaster response management

 The State Council issued the “State
Overall Contingency Plan for
Emergent Public Events”.
 The Ministry of Civil Affairs made the“Contingency Plan for Disaster Relief”,
the “Operation Procedures for Abrupt
Natural Disasters” and the “OperationProcedures for Emergent DisasterRelief”.
 Contingency Plans at provincial level,city level and county level wereissued.
 Contingency Plans of towns, factories
and schools were made.

A national contingency plan system has been basically established.

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3. Enhancement of disaster response management

According national contingency plan system, whendisaster happened:Related stuff were on duty to keep close contact
with affected areas;
Joint workgroup was established as soon as
possible and reached affected areas in 24 hours；
Emergency material was disseminated to victims in24 hours;
Central emergency fund was allocated to disasterareas in 72 hours;National Disaster Reduction Center of China

3. Enhancement of disaster response management
disaster response level

the leader of the workgroup

 Disastermanagem
ent stuff

 Experts
 others

The State Emergency Response
Planning for Natural Disasters

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

3. Enhancement of disaster response management
Standards of National Emergency Response
DegreeⅠ
State Council
Ⅱ
MinisterⅢ
ViceVice-MinisterⅣ
DirectorDirectorGeneral

People Died

PeopleEvacuatedhousescollapsed

Earthquake
Magnitude
Scale

Above 200

Above
1 million

Above
200,000

Above 5 M.S.

100-200

Above 800,000

150,000200,000

Above 5 M.S.

50-100300000800,000

100,000150,000

Above 5 M.S.

30-50

100,000300,000

10,000-100,000 Above 5 M.S.
20-50 people
deadNational Disaster Reduction Center of China

 China has also established disaster relief material reserve system.
Central-level stockpiles of disaster relief material have been built in
22 cities including Shenyang, Tianjin, Wuhan, Nanning, Chengdu,
Xi’an and so on. Meanwhile, local stockpiles in some disaster-prone
areas have also been set up.

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4. Application of RS into disaster reduction

Tropical Storm

Drought

Forest Fire
Ocean Disaster

FloodGeologic Disaster

Chinaplans to launch twosmall optical satellites and one small
SAR satellite recently, called the "2+1”
Project, and also will launch another4 optical satellites and 4 SAR
satellites later.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

4. Application of RS into disaster reduction

The remote sensing technology and geographical information system have been used indisaster monitoring and assessment, which have provided technical support forcomprehensive disaster reduction, disaster relief and post-disaster rebuilding.

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5. Elevation of public awareness of disaster reduction

 Central government issued the “Overall Implementation for Publicityof the Knowledge Concerning Emergency Management”.
 Central government initiated a nationwide campaign to “reducedisasters at communities”.
 NCDR, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly
distributed the “Views on Improving the Work of Disaster Reduction inSchools”.
 NCDR compiled the “Handbook of Disaster Prevention and SelfRescue”.
to spread disaster prevention knowledgeto enhance the public awareness of safety
to help people have the knowledge on first aid and mutual aid

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

The opening ceremony of “reduce disasters at communities”

The drill on disaster reduction in the school

National TV disaster reduction competition

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6. Development of Cooperation Mechanism on Regional
Disaster Mitigation

Since 2008, the annual leveldisaster officials over the Minister toattend the International Conference
on Disaster Reduction at least 25
more times to strengthen thecommunication and cooperation
between the organization of theInternational Disaster Reduction.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

the next step(Researchstep(Research TopicTopic))
1. Improvement of natural disaster monitoring, early warning andforecasting abilities
2. Reinforcement of the construction of major disaster reduction
projects
3. Advancement of non-project disaster mitigation activities
4. Elevation of the comprehensive research on greatly destructive
disasters
5. Improvement of international cooperation to cope with global
climatic changes

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

1. Improvement of natural disaster monitoring ,early warning and forecasting capabilities Developing a full-fledged network of natural disastermonitoring, early warning and forecasting by modernizing
meteorological, hydrological, seismic, geological, marine andenvironmental monitoring infrastructure and properly
increasing monitoring frequency
 Building a satellite remote-sensing disaster monitoring
system to raise the data gaining and applying ability.
 Applying new science and technology into disaster relief so
as to build an all-round natural disaster monitoring system.
 Building a sound pre-warning information release mechanism
in order to issue timely information.

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2. Reinforcement of the construction of major disaster

reduction projects

 Putting in place special plans of disaster resilience and giving
more weight to comprehensive harness of medium and smallsized rivers & reservoirs and areas vulnerable to landslideand mud-rock flows
 Focusing on backbone projects of disaster mitigation
including programs for flood control, drought relief,
earthquake prevention & emergency response, typhoon &storm surge prevention, sand prevention & control, plantdiseases & insect pests control, forest & grassland firecontrol and Sanbei Shelter Forest Project & coastal shelter
forest initiatives

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

3. Advancement of non-project disaster mitigation activities

 Compiling the countryside disaster reduction, industrial and urban
disaster reduction and key area disaster prevention plans to raise thecomprehensive prevention capacity
 Four-level command system should be improved to establish anorderly, efficient and quick-response management and operationsystem The central and local disaster relief material reserve networks andtheir equipment and facility construction should be intensified
 The construction of backbone, professionalized and volunteer reliefteams such as the civil-affairs disaster relief team, army, armed
police, public security firefighting teams should be strengthened so as
to build up and better the public mobilization mechanism
 Community disaster-reduction knowledge should be better publicizedto raise the public’s self-rescue abilities.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

4. Elevation of the comprehensive research on greatly

destructive disasters

 Asian Greatly Destructive Disaster Research Center will be set up to
study the causes and routines of greatly destructive disasters andthe relationship between them and their subsequent disasters; andsimulation of mutations of major natural disasters and simulation
experiments on emergency response to greatly destructive disasters
will be carried out.
 Sound systems, mechanisms and policy measures will be developedand improved to deal with greatly destructive disasters. Contingency
plans should be made for the city clusters in the Yangtze River Delta,
the Pearl River Delta and the Pan-Bohai area and other key cities
and disaster-prone areas. Relevant disaster relief drills should also
be conducted.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China

5. Improvement of international cooperation to cope with

global climatic changes

 The Chinese Government has instituted & promulgated
China’s National Climate Change Program.
 A portfolio of policy-measures will be taken to facilitate
economic restructuring and transform economic growth
pattern. Efforts will be made to achieve energy conservation& efficiency, develop renewable energy and deliver
ecological improvement projects. All these will help fightclimate change.
 China is on target to boost exchange and collaboration withother developing countries.

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