Aerial photo taken on Aug. 18, 2020
© Xinhua/Liu ChanAerial photo taken on Aug. 18, 2020 shows flooded area in Ciqikou of Shapingba District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Chongqing Municipality, located along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, was hit by severe flooding on Tuesday. A Level I emergency response was therefore issued for flood control.
China has experienced 21 numbered floods (floods of a certain large scale) so far in 2020, 1.6 times more than that of previous years, hitting a historical record since 1998.

The floods occurred in the six main river basins in China, including the Yangtze River and Yellow River.

A total of 833 rivers in China have gone above warning levels, 80 percent more than in the same period of that year, said China's Ministry of Water Resources in a statement on Tuesday.
Among them, 267 rivers were over the safety level and 77 reached historical record highs.

In 2020, the national average rainfall reached 616 mm, 13 percent more than the same period of the previous year and the second highest since 1961.

Moderate to heavy rain is still expected in the following three days in some parts of China's western and southern areas, with torrential rain in some cities in Southwest China's Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Water levels in some major rivers in Northeast China are still over the limit or warning lines. The ministry and other authorities vowed to continue conducting solid flood control work as the country has now entered the late-stage flood season.

The emergency response to floods in China remains at level-IV. Two working groups from the ministry are still in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, helping to guide the local flood defense work.