China sees drop in deaths from marine disasters in 2017

BEIJING - Marine disasters, including storm surges and ocean waves left 17 people dead or missing in 2017, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said in a report released Monday.

The death toll marked a sharp decline from the previous year when 60 people died or were reported missing.

Dangerous ocean waves left 11 people dead or missing, while storm surges left six people dead or missing, according to the report.

In 2017, direct economic losses caused by marine disasters amounted to 6.4 billion yuan (about 1 billion U.S. dollars), of which 87 percent was caused by storm surges, according to the report.

Guangdong Province was worst-hit economically by storm surges, with direct economic losses of 5.36 billion yuan (about 850 million U.S. dollars).

In 2017, both the death toll and the economic losses were below the average of the last ten years, according to the report.

SOA official Chen Zhi said besides dangerous ocean waves and storm surges, China was also affected by other marine disasters such as sea ice, tsunamis, large algae outbreaks, and coastal erosion in 2017.