China Focus: China strengthens all-round efforts to counter climate strains

by Xinhua writer Gao Zhu

BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The summer of 2025 has tested China with familiar yet intensifying climate challenges, from heavy rainfall in some northern areas to persistent inland heat, with global warming adding to the variability.

While shifting climate patterns have posed challenges, the country's responses have reflected long-term efforts in ecological protection, green development and disaster preparedness, positioning it well to manage a season of volatile weather.

RISING AWARENESS

Notably, 2024 was the hottest year on record globally, with warming and El Ni?o contributing to evident anomalies in many parts of China, thereby underscoring the need for urgency in strengthening adaptation capacity, said a June report from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

China, keenly aware of changes in climate and their impact on daily life, has put effective climate adaptation and response high on its government agenda.

At policy level, policymakers are embedding climate considerations across planning and emergency management -- under a climate framework set through 2035 that pairs greenhouse gas cuts with climate risk management. A resolution adopted at a tone-setting plenum in July last year further called for improving the working system for adapting to climate change.

Urban adaptation is being pushed forward through a network of climate-adaptive city pilots, with 39 cities nationwide advancing integrated measures that combine infrastructure with environmental factors.

As a part of these efforts, more Chinese cities are adopting what is known as the sponge city approach, which entails absorbing rain during wet periods, storing and purifying it in normal times, and releasing it in dry seasons to boost flood resilience.

Gong Yongwei, a professor at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, said sponge city projects should be effectively integrated with large-scale urban flood control and drainage systems to provide a more comprehensive response to waterlogging.

RESTORING RESILIENCE

Beyond cities, decades of ecological restoration, including large-scale afforestation, grassland and wetland programs, have managed to curb desertification, improve local climates and turn restored landscapes into natural buffers that help cope with pressures and challenges stemming from issues related to weather and climate impacts.

The country now boasts a total forest area of 283.7 million hectares, with forest coverage exceeding 25 percent of its total land area -- up from a mere 12 percent in the early 1980s.

China is also home to the world's largest total human-made forest area. In 2024 alone, China planted 4.45 million hectares of trees and improved 3.22 million hectares of grassland.

Home to nearly one-fifth of the world's population, China's green transformation carries global significance. Also, in the period from 2016 to 2023, China provided 24.5 billion U.S. dollars in climate funding to other developing countries.

Zhang Yunfei, a researcher at Renmin University of China, said China's unwavering push for green cooperation is delivering tangible benefits to more countries and regions, with its development philosophy offering broad inspiration for the Global South.

TECH-POWERED RISK REDUCTION

China's growing ability to manage climate risks is closely tied to advances in meteorological science and technology.

The country operates the world's largest integrated weather monitoring network -- via nine meteorological satellites in orbit, 546 weather radars and over 70,000 ground observation stations.

This smart forecasting system delivers nationwide coverage at 5-kilometer resolution, with 93-percent accuracy in terms of heavy rain alerts and a 43-minute lead time for severe convective weather. Accuracy in forecasting typhoon movement also remains among the best globally.

Recent examples show how these systems translate into real-world risk reduction. Ahead of Typhoon Wipha's landfall in Guangdong Province in south China on July 20, early warnings prompted the city of Taishan to suspend port operations, halt outdoor work at construction sites and evacuate residents from dangerous housing in advance.

During Typhoon Gaemi's presence in east China's Fujian Province in 2024, meanwhile, staged forecasts enabled the relocation of over 300,000 residents from high-risk areas.

Experts say China's early meteorological warning system, rooted in national conditions and practical experience, offers an efficient model for disaster prevention that has gained global recognition as a valuable approach to tackling the climate change.

Internationally, in support of the United Nations Early Warnings for All Initiative, China released an action plan in November 2024 to advance open regional early-warning cooperation and strengthen information sharing, resource allocation and action coordination. ■