Xi urges beefed-up disaster relief after Super Typhoon Yagi strikes south China

(Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged beefed-up disaster relief efforts after Super Typhoon Yagi struck the country’s southern region.

Yagi, the 11th typhoon of this year, made landfalls in the provinces of Hainan and Guangdong on Friday, leaving three people dead and 95 others injured.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, demanded efforts to ensure the safety of people’s lives and their property.

He called for mobilizing rescue efforts, handling well the relocation and resettlement of affected people, preventing secondary disasters, and making every effort to minimize casualties.

Xi also urged swift repair of damaged infrastructure, including transportation, electricity and communication systems, and demanded active post-disaster reconstruction to restore normal order of life and work as soon as possible.

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese premier, called for efforts to closely monitor the typhoon movement and fully implement various preventive measures against disaster.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has dispatched working groups to Hainan and Guangdong to guide the rescue efforts.

The typhoon has affected over 1.2 million people in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and caused widespread power and communication outages for many users, as well as the collapse of some houses.

Currently, power and communication have been partially restored