2008 Chinese winter storms
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Chinese winter storms（2008年中国雪灾、2008年中国南方雪灾）are a series of winter storm
events that affected large portions of southern and central China
starting on 25 January 2008 until 6 February 2008. The systems affected most of the area with heavy snows, ice
and cold
temperatures causing extensive damage and transportation disruption for several thousand travelers. It has become China's worst winter weather in half a century. According to some media sources the storms were directly responsible for at least 129 deaths.
, Hubei
, Henan
, Shandong
, Jiangsu
, Anhui
and the municipality of Shanghai
were hardest hit. Some received their worst snow storms in seventeen years while some experienced their worst in five decades. After the first wave of precipitation had passed through, snow continued to fall throughout several days following, accompanied by bitterly cold weather.
Snow was even reported in the country's largest true desert, the Taklamakan, where the snow and record low temperatures near -25 C lasted 11 consecutive days and killed livestock. At one point, the temperature dropped to -32 C, breaking the January 2006 record of -26.1 C, though the historical temperature series in this observatory is very short (started in 1996). The snow depth exceeded 4 centimetres (1.6 in) at times in the center of the desert according to the Tazhong Observatory. According to Xinhua, it was the first time that snow covered the entire desert at the same time.
' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), these winter storms in China have been mainly related to abnormal atmospheric circulation
and La Niña
, and are not directly linked to climate change
. The China Meteorological Administration mentioned that the 2007-08 winter was the coldest recorded across the country since 1986-87 with a one month-period during the winter storm event that was 2.5 Degrees Celsius below normal.
The power system of China was also severely affected by the adverse conditions. Widespread power outages were reported. In Chenzhou
, which has a population of 4.6 million, it was reported that the entire city had no power or water for over nearly two weeks, including government buildings and hospitals, while telecommunications cables and Internet networks were also damaged. In Fuzhou, Jiangxi
, it was reported that the city lost power for about 3 weeks. At one point, seventeen of the thirty-one provinces and autonomous regions of China had to endure reduced power supplies. Beginning 1 February, all of Shanghai's skyline night lights were shut off to support relief efforts and was not be resumed until the storm was declared officially over. In Guizhou
, officials said it could take up to five months to fully mend the power grid. Xinhua reported that electricity across most of the 170 worst hit counties was restored by the Chinese New Year.Coal reserves were also down to emergency levels and stockpiles were only sufficient for eight days of power generation.
The snow storm also damaged water supply equipment. For instance, in Wuhan
, up to 100,000 people were out of running water when several water pipes burst, cutting the supply to local households. In the Guangxi
region, about 239,000 were also having problems on accessing drinking water. Moreover, during the first week, there were significant mandatory evacuations and an estimated 827,000 people were evacuated across fourteen provinces, affecting a total population of about 78 million. In total over two weeks, according to Xinhua, 1.8 million residents were relocated elsewhere.
In addition, 870,000 pigs
, 450,000 sheep and 85,000 head of cattle were killed by the storm. In addition, 18600000 acres (75,271.6 km²) of forest were destroyed 6800000 acres (27,518.6 km²) of bamboo
, 11500000 acres (46,538.9 km²) of wood and 15000 acres (60.7 km²) of saplings. The freak storms are especially painful because they hit warmer parts of China that have little experience with snow. Many communities lack necessary equipment to handle the heavy snowfall.
preceding the Lunar New Year
. Nearly 180 million people, more than the population of Russia
, travel throughout the country during the holiday. According to Xinhua, in early February, millions of Chinese are travelling from the major cities to the countryside to celebrate the Spring Festival, a traditional celebration where the Chinese people return to their families, which falls on 7 February this year.
from Beijing to Guangzhou. Tens of thousands of people (on occasion as many as 500,000 to 800,000 at once) were left stranded at several railway stations across southern China, including Guangzhou railway station
. It was estimated that nearly 6 million railway passengers in total were stranded during the period while about 8,000 cargo trains were delayed. Backlogs at that station where masses of people were waiting desperately to return home lasted several days. Many of the travellers took refuge in an emergency shelter at the China Import and Export Fair exhibition center where at times the mass of people was about the size of three to four entire football fields. Goods were distributed to stranded travellers including free water bottles and lunch boxes of rice, chicken legs and cabbage that were sold at about a dollar each.
Red banners were installed at one station encouraging some travellers to abandon their travel plans and nearly half a million of them cancelled their trips after lengthy waits. Xinhua reported that 11 million migrant workers in the Guangdong area received ticket refunds. Most of the rail service resumed on 31 January but heavy fog on 3 February caused further delays particularly in Hunan. The lengthy delays occasionally caused clashes between travellers, police and soldiers.
and Henan as well as Jingzhu Expressway
, the main highway connecting the capital Beijing and Guangdong province, were shut down. Seven of the eight highways connecting Hunan and Guangdong were closed and all public highways in Anhui were closed. The road closures disrupted transportation of goods across several areas of the country where there were concerns of significant food shortage as the storm also did significant damage to crops.
Water transportation was also affected as 10 boats at the Shanghai
port which contained goods were stuck and unable to unload because of sea levels.
in Guangzhou were stranded after 55 flights were cancelled. In total, about 3 250 flights were cancelled and another 5,550 were delayed. All provincial bus services in Jiangxi
were halted. The Chinese Public Safety Ministry mentioned that about 1 million police officers were dispatched to keep the roadways open but numerous trucks were stranded in many areas. 100 diesel locomotives were also dispatched in attempt to get stranded trains back into service.
, 63 were killed as of 31 January due to the effects of the storm, many of them because of the cold or collapsed roofs. The toll was later risen to at least 107 according to Xinhua. Among the fatalities, 11 were killed by a bus accident in Anhui in which the bus flipped into a ditch on January 21. Another crash on 28 January killed at least 25 when a bus plunged into an icy road near Zunyi City. Three electricians were killed in Hunan
while attempting to remove snow and ice from power lines and were named "revolutionary martyrs" by the government.As there was a gradual restoration of train services, stampedes killed at least one person in Guangzhou. Chinese officials mentioned that medical teams treated about 200 000 sick and injured people while 60 died from the cold.. 11 electricians were also killed while restoring power across the country, but it wasn't clear if they were included in the official death toll of 60 people killed in accidents and building collapses blamed on the storms.
The Chinese economy, which has experienced rapid growth over the past thirty years, was also affected by the winter event. According to the BBC
, the country's civil affairs ministry estimated that the costs to the country's economy
were about 54 billion Chinese yuan
but the cost rose to 80 billion yuan as of February 7. Damage estimates as of February 13 were at about 111 billion yuan . Insurance companies across the country received tens of thousands of compensation cases including half a million from the hardest hit regions.
Analysts also mentioned that extensive loss of crops (of over 40,000 km²) including fresh vegetables and fruit resulted in a substantial inflation of food prices. At least 11 provinces reported significant price increases after the loss of millions of crops. The price for box lunches increased fivefold across many areas in the aftermath. During the month of January, the country's producer price index
hit a three-year high with a rise 6.1% including a near 30% surge in crude prices, near 9% in fuel, raw materials and power prices and a 7 to 10% increase in diesel oil, kerosene and gasoline prices. In addition, food prices climbed by 10% to as much as 18% during the month and significantly affected the Consumer Price Index
(CPI). The inflation rate
itself reached 7.1% the highest since September 1996 where it hit 7.4%.
In addition, productivity at numerous factories was affected. Among them, steel and aluminum production were scaled back due to a significant shortage of raw materials and loss of production of about 50,000 tonnes of lead and zinc was forecasted in Hunan. Telecom companies had significant repair costs as about 10,000 kilometers of lines were affected. The Ministry of Information Industry mentioned that this has affected 33 million users and cost at least 80 million yuan up until 27 January. Other sectors affected were hotels, airlines and auto sales while other businesses had disruption in the supply of products because of transportation delays. The Chinese government mentioned that the storm would not have a significant long-term affect on the general economy but would not be without significant short-term problems.
The winter weather may have been responsible for a 7% drop of the Shanghai Composite Index due to concerns at the effects of transport breakdowns and power shortages. However, the storms happened at the same time as significant worldwide stock market volatility due to concerns of a recession
in the United States
. Energy-related stocks rose as much as 23% due to the rise of profits because of the weather woes.
The winter storms marked the largest national mass mobilization since the 2003 SARS crisis and is comparable in size to the relief efforts of the 1998 Yangtze River Floods
. Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao
issued an apology to citizens regarding the situation in a public televised appearance at a railway station in Changsha, Hunan. He mentioned that the electrical system would be first to be fixed before restoring normal train operations for Lunar New Year holiday travellers. The severe weather also led to an emergency meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
chaired by General Secretary
Hu Jintao
to discuss ways in order to control the situation.
About 300,000 troops and 1.1 million reservists were deployed to assist relief efforts and snow removal across various parts of affected regions.The government also announced a $700 million (2008 USD
) plan for helping farmers who had their crops destroyed by the winter weather. In addition, the government spent over 330 million yuan for local disaster relief operations. On 1 February, Premier Wen held a State Council
meeting to discuss matters related to the snowstorms, and immediately afterwards flew out to Hunan to inspect relief efforts. General Secretary, President Hu visited various coal mines to urge them to help end power shortages.
There were also reports that China would invest significantly in better forecasting and cooperation between weather departments in the event of future storms as there were reports of criticism of the weather agencies. According to the China Meteorological Administration
, there are plans to invest nearly 2 billion yuan (US$300 million) for the improvement of the weather forecasting work, which was reportedly approved by the State Council
, the Chinese Cabinet.
In addition, several weather experts from the meteorological office told that the country was not properly prepared to face a winter weather event of this magnitude. Some had praised northern parts of the country for their emergency plans in unusual weather. but have criticized those from southern parts. The Chinese Meteorological Administration also added that officials were not expecting such a lengthy episode of severe winter weather with an extensive impact across a large area.
Premier Wen Jiabao spent Chinese New Year in Jiangxi
while inspecting relief efforts.
. and
Macau donated a significant amount to the relief crisis. Local newspapers in the Special administrative region tried to increase the people's awareness in the donation. On March 7, 2008 the PRC paramount leader
Hu Jintao
publicly responded and thanked the region in a 15-minute speech.
Winter storm
A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form...
events that affected large portions of southern and central China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
starting on 25 January 2008 until 6 February 2008. The systems affected most of the area with heavy snows, ice
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
and cold
Cold
Cold describes the condition of low temperature.Cold may also refer to:*Common cold, a contagious viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system*Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...
temperatures causing extensive damage and transportation disruption for several thousand travelers. It has become China's worst winter weather in half a century. According to some media sources the storms were directly responsible for at least 129 deaths.
Cold snap and blizzard
The series of severe winter events started on 10 January when a large dome of cold air enveloped most parts of China, causing much precipitation in the form of heavy snow west of the coastal areas, where the temperature was dropped to slightly below 0 °C (32 °F). The provinces of HunanHunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
, Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
and the municipality of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
were hardest hit. Some received their worst snow storms in seventeen years while some experienced their worst in five decades. After the first wave of precipitation had passed through, snow continued to fall throughout several days following, accompanied by bitterly cold weather.
Snow was even reported in the country's largest true desert, the Taklamakan, where the snow and record low temperatures near -25 C lasted 11 consecutive days and killed livestock. At one point, the temperature dropped to -32 C, breaking the January 2006 record of -26.1 C, though the historical temperature series in this observatory is very short (started in 1996). The snow depth exceeded 4 centimetres (1.6 in) at times in the center of the desert according to the Tazhong Observatory. According to Xinhua, it was the first time that snow covered the entire desert at the same time.
Causes
According to scientists at China's National Climate Center and the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
(IPCC), these winter storms in China have been mainly related to abnormal atmospheric circulation
Atmospheric circulation
Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air, and the means by which thermal energy is distributed on the surface of the Earth....
and La Niña
La Niña
La Niña is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate pattern. During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C...
, and are not directly linked to climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. The China Meteorological Administration mentioned that the 2007-08 winter was the coldest recorded across the country since 1986-87 with a one month-period during the winter storm event that was 2.5 Degrees Celsius below normal.
Effects
Damage
The snow storm caused extensive damage to a vast number of low-rise buildings, the roofs of which collapsed, killing occupants inside. It was estimated that about 223,000 homes were destroyed and 862,000 others were damaged. CNN also reported that 500 meter-long auto plant in Xiangtan had its entire roof collapsed.The power system of China was also severely affected by the adverse conditions. Widespread power outages were reported. In Chenzhou
Chenzhou
Chenzhou is a city located in the southern area of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Its administrative area covers , 9.2% of the provincial area, and its total population reached 4,559,600 as of 2001, 26% of them living in urban areas, 74% of them live in rural areas.-History:Chenzhou...
, which has a population of 4.6 million, it was reported that the entire city had no power or water for over nearly two weeks, including government buildings and hospitals, while telecommunications cables and Internet networks were also damaged. In Fuzhou, Jiangxi
Fuzhou, Jiangxi
Fuzhou is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China.It is located to the south of the provincial capital Nanchang. Its total area is 18,800 km². Its population is 3,700,000 people...
, it was reported that the city lost power for about 3 weeks. At one point, seventeen of the thirty-one provinces and autonomous regions of China had to endure reduced power supplies. Beginning 1 February, all of Shanghai's skyline night lights were shut off to support relief efforts and was not be resumed until the storm was declared officially over. In Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
, officials said it could take up to five months to fully mend the power grid. Xinhua reported that electricity across most of the 170 worst hit counties was restored by the Chinese New Year.Coal reserves were also down to emergency levels and stockpiles were only sufficient for eight days of power generation.
The snow storm also damaged water supply equipment. For instance, in Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
, up to 100,000 people were out of running water when several water pipes burst, cutting the supply to local households. In the Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
region, about 239,000 were also having problems on accessing drinking water. Moreover, during the first week, there were significant mandatory evacuations and an estimated 827,000 people were evacuated across fourteen provinces, affecting a total population of about 78 million. In total over two weeks, according to Xinhua, 1.8 million residents were relocated elsewhere.
In addition, 870,000 pigs
PIGS
PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...
, 450,000 sheep and 85,000 head of cattle were killed by the storm. In addition, 18600000 acres (75,271.6 km²) of forest were destroyed 6800000 acres (27,518.6 km²) of bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, 11500000 acres (46,538.9 km²) of wood and 15000 acres (60.7 km²) of saplings. The freak storms are especially painful because they hit warmer parts of China that have little experience with snow. Many communities lack necessary equipment to handle the heavy snowfall.
Transportation
Transportation was also heavily affected as the storms hit during the busiest travelling season of the year, ChunyunChunyun
Chunyun, , also referred to as Spring Festival travel season, or Chunyun period, is a period of travel in China with extremely high traffic load around the time of the Chinese New Year. The period usually begins 15 days before the Lunar New Year's Day and lasts for around 40 days...
preceding the Lunar New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
. Nearly 180 million people, more than the population of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, travel throughout the country during the holiday. According to Xinhua, in early February, millions of Chinese are travelling from the major cities to the countryside to celebrate the Spring Festival, a traditional celebration where the Chinese people return to their families, which falls on 7 February this year.
Railway
Heavy snow damaged the Jingguang railwayJingguang Railway
The Beijing–Guangzhou Railway or Jingguang Railway is a major arterial railway in the China that connects Beijing in the north with Guangzhou in the south. This dual-track electrified line has a total length of 2,324 kilometres and spans five provinces through north, central and south China...
from Beijing to Guangzhou. Tens of thousands of people (on occasion as many as 500,000 to 800,000 at once) were left stranded at several railway stations across southern China, including Guangzhou railway station
Guangzhou railway station
Guangzhou Railway Station serves the city of Guangzhou, China. It sits on the high speed Guangshen railway just west of Guangzhou East station. As one of the busiest railway stations in southern China, Guangzhou station is known for its notorious safety record...
. It was estimated that nearly 6 million railway passengers in total were stranded during the period while about 8,000 cargo trains were delayed. Backlogs at that station where masses of people were waiting desperately to return home lasted several days. Many of the travellers took refuge in an emergency shelter at the China Import and Export Fair exhibition center where at times the mass of people was about the size of three to four entire football fields. Goods were distributed to stranded travellers including free water bottles and lunch boxes of rice, chicken legs and cabbage that were sold at about a dollar each.
Red banners were installed at one station encouraging some travellers to abandon their travel plans and nearly half a million of them cancelled their trips after lengthy waits. Xinhua reported that 11 million migrant workers in the Guangdong area received ticket refunds. Most of the rail service resumed on 31 January but heavy fog on 3 February caused further delays particularly in Hunan. The lengthy delays occasionally caused clashes between travellers, police and soldiers.
Highway
Several main highways including in ShanxiShanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
and Henan as well as Jingzhu Expressway
Jingzhu Expressway
The Jingzhu Expressway is the first completed north-south expressway in the People's Republic of China, starting from Beijing and ending in Zhuhai, on the border with the Macau SAR....
, the main highway connecting the capital Beijing and Guangdong province, were shut down. Seven of the eight highways connecting Hunan and Guangdong were closed and all public highways in Anhui were closed. The road closures disrupted transportation of goods across several areas of the country where there were concerns of significant food shortage as the storm also did significant damage to crops.
Water transport
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
port which contained goods were stuck and unable to unload because of sea levels.
Airport
About 60,000 bus riders were stranded at various highways and 19 major airports at 10 cities were also closed at one point. 10,000 at Baiyun AirportGuangzhou Baiyun International Airport
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is the main airport of Guangzhou, the capital of the province of Guangdong, People's Republic of China. Both airport codes were inherited from the previous Guangzhou airport, and the IATA code reflects Guangzhou's former romanization Canton...
in Guangzhou were stranded after 55 flights were cancelled. In total, about 3 250 flights were cancelled and another 5,550 were delayed. All provincial bus services in Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
were halted. The Chinese Public Safety Ministry mentioned that about 1 million police officers were dispatched to keep the roadways open but numerous trucks were stranded in many areas. 100 diesel locomotives were also dispatched in attempt to get stranded trains back into service.
Fatalities
According to CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, 63 were killed as of 31 January due to the effects of the storm, many of them because of the cold or collapsed roofs. The toll was later risen to at least 107 according to Xinhua. Among the fatalities, 11 were killed by a bus accident in Anhui in which the bus flipped into a ditch on January 21. Another crash on 28 January killed at least 25 when a bus plunged into an icy road near Zunyi City. Three electricians were killed in Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
while attempting to remove snow and ice from power lines and were named "revolutionary martyrs" by the government.As there was a gradual restoration of train services, stampedes killed at least one person in Guangzhou. Chinese officials mentioned that medical teams treated about 200 000 sick and injured people while 60 died from the cold.. 11 electricians were also killed while restoring power across the country, but it wasn't clear if they were included in the official death toll of 60 people killed in accidents and building collapses blamed on the storms.
Economic impact and costs
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the country's civil affairs ministry estimated that the costs to the country's economy
Economy of the People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China ranks since 2010 as the world's second largest economy after the United States. It has been the world's fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of...
were about 54 billion Chinese yuan
Chinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
but the cost rose to 80 billion yuan as of February 7. Damage estimates as of February 13 were at about 111 billion yuan . Insurance companies across the country received tens of thousands of compensation cases including half a million from the hardest hit regions.
Analysts also mentioned that extensive loss of crops (of over 40,000 km²) including fresh vegetables and fruit resulted in a substantial inflation of food prices. At least 11 provinces reported significant price increases after the loss of millions of crops. The price for box lunches increased fivefold across many areas in the aftermath. During the month of January, the country's producer price index
Producer price index
A Producer Price Index measures average changes in prices received by domestic producers for their output. It is one of several price indices.Its importance is being undermined by the steady decline in manufactured goods as a share of spending....
hit a three-year high with a rise 6.1% including a near 30% surge in crude prices, near 9% in fuel, raw materials and power prices and a 7 to 10% increase in diesel oil, kerosene and gasoline prices. In addition, food prices climbed by 10% to as much as 18% during the month and significantly affected the Consumer Price Index
Consumer price index
A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI, in the United States is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of...
(CPI). The inflation rate
Inflation rate
In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of inflation, the rate of increase of a price index . It is the percentage rate of change in price level over time. The rate of decrease in the purchasing power of money is approximately equal.The inflation rate is used to calculate the real interest...
itself reached 7.1% the highest since September 1996 where it hit 7.4%.
In addition, productivity at numerous factories was affected. Among them, steel and aluminum production were scaled back due to a significant shortage of raw materials and loss of production of about 50,000 tonnes of lead and zinc was forecasted in Hunan. Telecom companies had significant repair costs as about 10,000 kilometers of lines were affected. The Ministry of Information Industry mentioned that this has affected 33 million users and cost at least 80 million yuan up until 27 January. Other sectors affected were hotels, airlines and auto sales while other businesses had disruption in the supply of products because of transportation delays. The Chinese government mentioned that the storm would not have a significant long-term affect on the general economy but would not be without significant short-term problems.
The winter weather may have been responsible for a 7% drop of the Shanghai Composite Index due to concerns at the effects of transport breakdowns and power shortages. However, the storms happened at the same time as significant worldwide stock market volatility due to concerns of a recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Energy-related stocks rose as much as 23% due to the rise of profits because of the weather woes.
Government response
1998 Yangtze River Floods
The 1998 Yangtze River floods was a major flood that lasted from middle of June to the beginning of September 1998 in the People's Republic of China at the Yangtze River.-Tolls:The event was considered the worst Northern China flood in 40 years...
. Chinese Premier
Premier of the People's Republic of China
The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...
issued an apology to citizens regarding the situation in a public televised appearance at a railway station in Changsha, Hunan. He mentioned that the electrical system would be first to be fixed before restoring normal train operations for Lunar New Year holiday travellers. The severe weather also led to an emergency meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Communist Party of China, whose membership varies between 5 and 9 people. The inner workings of the PSC are not well known, although it is believed that decisions of the PSC are...
chaired by General Secretary
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China , officially General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest ranking official within the Communist Party of China, a standing member of the Politburo and head of the Secretariat...
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
to discuss ways in order to control the situation.
About 300,000 troops and 1.1 million reservists were deployed to assist relief efforts and snow removal across various parts of affected regions.The government also announced a $700 million (2008 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) plan for helping farmers who had their crops destroyed by the winter weather. In addition, the government spent over 330 million yuan for local disaster relief operations. On 1 February, Premier Wen held a State Council
State Council of the People's Republic of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China , which is largely synonymous with the Central People's Government after 1954, is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency...
meeting to discuss matters related to the snowstorms, and immediately afterwards flew out to Hunan to inspect relief efforts. General Secretary, President Hu visited various coal mines to urge them to help end power shortages.
There were also reports that China would invest significantly in better forecasting and cooperation between weather departments in the event of future storms as there were reports of criticism of the weather agencies. According to the China Meteorological Administration
China Meteorological Administration
The China Meteorological Administration , headquartered in Beijing, is the national weather service for the People's Republic of China.-History:...
, there are plans to invest nearly 2 billion yuan (US$300 million) for the improvement of the weather forecasting work, which was reportedly approved by the State Council
State Council of the People's Republic of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China , which is largely synonymous with the Central People's Government after 1954, is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency...
, the Chinese Cabinet.
In addition, several weather experts from the meteorological office told that the country was not properly prepared to face a winter weather event of this magnitude. Some had praised northern parts of the country for their emergency plans in unusual weather. but have criticized those from southern parts. The Chinese Meteorological Administration also added that officials were not expecting such a lengthy episode of severe winter weather with an extensive impact across a large area.
Premier Wen Jiabao spent Chinese New Year in Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
while inspecting relief efforts.
Foreign and interior aid
The Red Cross Society of China reported at they received at least 60 million yuan in donation and provided donations of food, medicine, quilts, coats and tents. In addition, some other events including an opera performance raised additional funds for the areas affected. In addition, several foreign countries across the world had offered monetary assistance for the relief efforts.n government has offered US$43,000 in aid for snow disaster relief.an government has pledged US$500,000 in emergency aid to China's foreign ministry.n government has pledged US$100,000 in emergency aid to China. government has said it will give US$150,000 in emergency aid to China via the Chinese Red CrossRed Cross Society of China
The Red Cross Society of China is the national Red Cross Society in the People's Republic of China.-Origins and history before 1949:...
. and
Macau donated a significant amount to the relief crisis. Local newspapers in the Special administrative region tried to increase the people's awareness in the donation. On March 7, 2008 the PRC paramount leaderParamount leader
Paramount leader literally "the highest leader of the party and the state ", in modern Chinese political science, unofficially refers to the political leader of the People's Republic of China....
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
publicly responded and thanked the region in a 15-minute speech.
| Donation source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong and Macau businesspeople including: Cheung Chung-kiu (張松橋) Francis Choi Francis Choi Francis Choi Chee Ming, GBS, JP, is the founder and Chairman of Early Light International Ltd., the largest manufacturer of toys in the world. He is known as "玩具大王", the King of Toys... (蔡志明) Cheng Yu-tung Cheng Yu-tung Cheng Yu-tung GBM is a Hong Kong billionaire with extensive business dealings and real estate interests in both Hong Kong and Macau. He owns the privately-held Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, a conglomerate which operates the Sheraton Marina hotel and controls the publicly listed New World group... (鄭裕彤) Thomas Lau Thomas Lau Thomas Lau Luen-hung is a Hong Kong entrepreneur and billionaire. He is the younger brother of Joseph Lau Luen-hung, the chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings. He is the managing director of Lifestyle International Holdings.-References:... (劉鑾鴻) Joseph Lau Joseph Lau Joseph Lau Luen Hung is a billionaire Hong Kong real estate investor who owns a 61% stake in Chinese Estates Holdings. His fortune is estimated by Forbes at $4.3 billion.-Wealth:... (劉鑾雄) Charles Ho (何柱國, Sing Tao News) Pansy Ho Pansy Ho Pansy Catalina Ho Chiu-king is the daughter of Hong Kong and Macau-based businessman Stanley Ho, and the managing director of various companies he founded, including Shun Tak Holdings and the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau.... (何超瓊) Peter Lam Peter Lam Peter Lam Kin-ngok , son of industrialist tycoon Lim Por-yen and his second wife, U Po-chu, is the Chairman & CEO of Media Asia Entertainment Group.-2008 Speeding offense:... (林健岳) Albert Yeung Albert Yeung Albert Yeung , born in 1944 with ancestry in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China, is a well known entrepreneur in Hong Kong. He is now the Chairman of Emperor Group.-Early years:... (楊受成) Robert Ng Robert Ng Robert Ng Chee Siong is the chairman of Hong Kong property development conglomerate Sino Group, a position he has held since 1981. He is the eldest son of Ng Teng Fong, the Singaporean real estate billionaire... (黃志祥) |
HK$10 million |
| Hong Kong government relief fund (香港政府賑災基金) | HK$13,430,000 |
| Shimao property (世茂房地產控股有限公司) | HK$10 million |
| Tong Ren Tang Tong Ren Tang Tongrentang, or Tong Ren Tang is a Chinese pharmaceutical company founded in 1669, which is now the largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine... (北京同仁堂) |
HK$3 million |
| Hong Kong syun ming association (香港宣明會) | HK$4 million |
| CLP Group (中電集團) | HK$1 million |
| Bank of East Asia Bank of East Asia The Bank of East Asia Limited often abbreviated to BEA, is the largest independent local bank and the third largest bank in Hong Kong. Its chairman and chief executive is Sir David Li... (東亞銀行有限公司) |
HK$1 million |
| Council (廠商會) | HK$800,000 |
| China Merchants Holdings (International) (招商局國際有限公司) |
HK$50,000 |
| HK government staff (行政會議非官守議員) |
HK$503,000 |
| PLA HK Garrison fund People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison The People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison is a garrison of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China responsible for defence duties of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to the PRC in 1997... |
HK$300,000 |
| Hong Kong Red Cross Hong Kong Red Cross The Hong Kong Red Cross is the national Red Cross society of Hong Kong as part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It was established officially on 12 July 1950 as a branch of the British Red Cross Society in Hong Kong... |
HK$32 million |
| Hong Kong Jockey Club Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, founded in 1884 to promote horse racing. It was granted Royal Charter and renamed to "The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club" in 1959... |
HK$10 million |
| Chinese enterprise association (中國企業協會) | HK$4 million |
| Bank of China charity Bank of China (Hong Kong) Bank of China Limited is the second-largest commercial banking group in Hong Kong in terms of assets and customer deposits, with more than 300 branches in Hong Kong. It was established on 1 October 2001 from a merger of 12 subsidiaries and associates of the Bank of China in Hong Kong, and listed... (中銀香港慈善基金) |
HK$3 million |
| Megaman HK (曼佳美) | HK$1 million |
| Ocean Park Hong Kong Ocean Park Hong Kong Ocean Park Hong Kong , commonly known as Ocean Park, is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, animal theme park and amusement park, situated in Wong Chuk Hang and Nam Long Shan in the Southern District of Hong Kong. Founded in 1977 by the then Governor of Hong Kong Sir Murray MacLehose, Ocean Park has... |
HK$1 million |
| HK Shanghai chamber of commerce (上海商會) | HK$500,000 |
| The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (民建聯) | HK$275,000 |
| 十巴仙布施計畫 | HK$200,000 |
| Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants is the global body for professional accountants offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification . it is one of the largest and fastest-growing global accountancy bodies with 147,000 members and 424,000 students in 170... |
HK$100,000 |