China's Evolution in Disaster Risk Management: Lessons from Strategic Planning, Data Standardization, and Collaborative Recovery

China's Longstanding Struggle with Natural Disasters: Lessons from Progress in Disaster Risk Management

China has experienced its fr share of natural disasters for centuries. In 2019 alone, the country incurred over CNY300 billion approximately $47.5 billion in direct economic losses due to earthquakes, typhoons, floods, droughts, and other calamities. Most recently, intense rnfalls led to widespread flooding affecting 27 provinces requiring the evacuation of millions of people.

Agnst a backdrop of rapid economic development and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns threatening to escalate disaster frequency and severity, China has been making strides in reducing vulnerability and preparing for inevitable challenges. Our latest knowledge note, co-authored with experts from China's Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management ADREM at Beijing Normal University, presents the country's recent progress in enhancing resilience and shares insights on scaling up resilient practices.

Here are some key takeaways:

Strategic Planning is Vital: Since drafting its first multi-year comprehensive national disaster reduction plan for 1998-2010, China has developed Comprehensive Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plans following a five-year cycle since 2007. These plans have been instrumental in guiding risk reduction interventions. Over the years, there's been a notable shift towards proactive disaster prevention from being reactive.

Setting : The implementation of its 2008 disaster prevention plan led China to designate over 12,000 communities nationwide as demonstration communities for disaster risk reduction DRR. Twelve years into this initiative, spatial analyses suggest that these DRR demonstration communities are not only effective themselves but also inspire capacity-building in surrounding areas regarding DRR practices.

Collaborative Recovery Acceleration: Following the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008, China established a counterpart support program which pred select provinces and municipalities across the country with severely affected counties around Wenchuan to provide financial and technical assistance. This enabled impacted regions to benefit from tlored support while also helping cover reconstruction costs. A similar approach was employed during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis when provinces learned useful lessons from each other on pandemic response.

Standardized Disaster Data for Effective Risk Management: China has been working towards standardizing its disaster loss statistical system, strengthening DRR practitioners' ability to analyze national data for informed resilience-building strategies. In 2013, after conducting a comprehensive post-disaster loss estimation following the Lushan Earthquake took only 27 days compared to the 112 days it took following the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008. The average time required for such an assessment has since been further reduced down to approximately 10 days.

Localized Insurance Solutions for Quick Recovery: Recognizing the importance of catastrophe insurance, China acknowledges its role in promoting rapid recovery after natural disasters. Aware of regional variations, the government is experimenting with local characteristics-based catastrophe insurance protection mechanisms. In 2014, pilot programs were launched in Shenzhen, Ningbo, Yunnan, and Sichuan.

As global disaster risk intensifies, China's resilience-building efforts are advancing swiftly, encompassing areas such as emergency response infrastructure development and innovative agricultural insurance products. We invite you to explore this knowledge note made possible with the support of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery GFDRR.

DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN CHINA

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This article is reproduced from: https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/eastasiapacific/learning-experience-insights-chinas-progress-disaster-risk-management

Please indicate when reprinting from: https://www.o062.com/Seismological_Bureau/China_s_DRR_progress_and_lessons.html