China Issues Urgent Flood Control Notice as Typhoon Nears

China’s top leadership has issued an urgent nationwide directive on flood control and drought relief, ordering all levels of government to mobilize resources and prepare for extreme weather as Super Typhoon Bavi barrels toward the country’s eastern coast. The notice, jointly published on July 10 by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, represents the highest level of administrative directive in China’s governance system and signals a shift toward planning for worst-case climate scenarios.

Context: A Nation Under Weather Pressure

The directive follows a Politburo meeting chaired by Xi Jinping on June 30 that studied and arranged flood control and drought relief work, emphasizing that protecting people’s lives must always be the top priority. China entered its main flood season on July 1, with the Ministry of Water Resources forecasting more extreme weather and climate events than usual, with droughts and floods coexisting.

The urgency of the notice is underscored by the approach of Super Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of 2026, which has maintained super typhoon intensity for nearly five days. According to Global Times, Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, described Bavi as “among the most powerful and largest storms seen this year,” with maximum central wind speeds reaching grades 16-17 and a cloud circulation diameter approaching 1,200 kilometers at its peak.

Key Provisions of the Notice

The notice, published on page 1 of People’s Daily, calls for a comprehensive national response built on what it terms “bottom-line thinking” and “extreme thinking” — preparing for the worst possible scenarios. The directive emphasizes “putting the people and lives first” and requires that early warning information reaches grassroots responsible persons and threatened communities at the first moment.

Key measures outlined in the notice include:

• Enhanced monitoring and early warning: Improving the accuracy of short-term forecasts for small watersheds in mountainous areas and during nighttime and heavy rainfall periods
• Evacuation protocols: Requiring tailored evacuation plans for high-risk areas including mountain gully mouths, narrow river channels, construction sites, tourist attractions, and facilities housing vulnerable populations
• Infrastructure protection: Dynamic risk inspections of transportation infrastructure, urban lifeline systems, and major national projects including the South-to-North Water Diversion and West-to-East Gas Pipeline
• Emergency response readiness: Pre-positioning rescue forces and equipment, improving rapid deployment capabilities, and ensuring backup communication equipment for scenarios involving road, network, or power disruptions
• Grassroots capacity building: Channeling resources to local levels and providing professional training for new grassroots officials

Super Typhoon Bavi: An Unprecedented Test

Bavi is expected to make landfall on or near northern Taiwan on July 11 before approaching coastal areas from Fujian to Zhejiang. The National Meteorological Center has upgraded its typhoon warning to orange, and the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has elevated its emergency response level.

Ma Jun warned that Bavi’s exceptional size means its remnants could carry moisture northward, affecting central, northern, and northeastern China — regions with less experience dealing with typhoon-related hazards. “Compared with the southern regions, northern China has less experience dealing with typhoon-related strong winds and heavy rainfall,” Ma told Global Times. “Therefore, areas including Anhui, Henan, Shandong, North China and Northeast China should strengthen preparations.”

Political Accountability and Governance

The notice frames disaster response as a political accountability issue, emphasizing “political responsibility” and requiring officials to maintain a “correct governance performance view.” It mandates 24-hour duty shifts during the flood season and warns against delays, omissions, or concealment in reporting major casualties and disaster information.

This top-down, Party-led disaster management model reflects China’s approach to climate adaptation, where the Politburo sets strategic direction and the Party-State apparatus implements through detailed administrative directives. The explicit mention of “extreme thinking” signals a significant shift in planning philosophy — moving beyond historical norms to prepare for unprecedented climate scenarios.

Broader Implications

The notice represents China’s ongoing effort to adapt its governance systems to increasing climate volatility. By specifically highlighting the risk of “drought-flood abrupt alternation” — rapid transitions between drought and flood conditions — the directive acknowledges the complex challenges posed by climate change.

The emphasis on protecting agricultural infrastructure also connects to China’s broader food security strategy, which has been a top policy priority. As ECNS reported, China has faced increasingly frequent extreme weather events in recent years, including heavy rainfall, floods and heatwaves.

What to Watch For

As Super Typhoon Bavi approaches, the effectiveness of these new measures will face an immediate test. Key questions include how well early warning systems reach vulnerable populations in remote areas, whether pre-positioned resources prove sufficient, and how local governments — particularly in northern regions less accustomed to typhoon impacts — implement the directive’s requirements. The coming days will provide the first real-world assessment of China’s enhanced disaster preparedness framework.