Rains come to China drought provinces, Wen warns crisis not over

China warned several central and southern provinces hit by a months-long dry spell on Saturday to prepare for heavy rain and even floods, though Premier Wen Jiabao said it was too early to call an end to the critical water shortage. Officials have said parts of China are enduring their worst drought in 50 years, with rainfall 40 to 60 percent less than normal, damaging crops and cutting power from hydroelectric dams.
State television and the official Xinhua news agency said that the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang would experience rain, thunderstorms and strong winds. "Rain in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will be beneficial to replenishing water in reservoirs and lakes and to ameliorating the drought," Xinhua cited the China Meteorological Administration as saying. Provinces must be on alert for heavy rains and for possible landslides and other disasters, it said.
In some drought-affected provinces it had begun to rain quite hard, state television added, showing pictures of drenched streets and fields. But Wen, speaking at in the central city of Wuhan, said the weather could change again. "Recently some areas have experienced rain, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about the weather," Xinhua paraphrased him as saying. "There is still a way to go for the fundamental easing of the drought, and we must not treat lightly its impact," Wen said.
Properly tackling the drought was crucial for ensuring the stable and fast growth of the economy and controlling inflation, he added. Local governments must ensure they kept up their oversight over agricultural prices as well as the summer harvest and sowing for the next harvest, Wen said.
"The summer grains harvest is expected to rise this year; stocks are quite ample. We have the complete ability to ensure market stability," he added. The summer harvest accounts for one quarter of China's annual grain output. Annual inflation is expected to accelerate in May from 5.3 percent in April, which was near 32-month highs, though analysts expect the drought, and an on-going power shortage, to have only a limited impact on inflation and economic growth. China has just six percent of the globe's fresh water resources but a fifth of its population.