II. Adapting to Climate Change

During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, China strengthened scientific research in and impact evaluation of climate change, improved relevant laws and policies, and enhanced the capability of key sectors to adapt to climate change, so as to reduce the negative impact of climate change on economic and social development and people's lives.

1. Agriculture

China strives to consolidate farmland and water conservancy infrastructure, raise the overall production capacity of agriculture, encourage large-scale construction of standard farmland with stable yields despite drought or flood, support major irrigation areas to continue building supporting and big irrigation and drainage pump stations, expand the irrigation area, improve the irrigation efficiency and spread water-conservation technology, and carry out agricultural water pricing reform and pilot water-conservation renovations of farmland ditches, and enhance the nation's capacity to resist disasters. It has built and improved agricultural meteorological monitoring and early-warning systems. China also carries out research into and cultivates stress-resistant varieties of seeds with high yield potential and high quality and resistance to drought, waterlogging, high temperature, diseases and pests, and expands the growing areas of super strains of crops. It has further increased subsidies for superior strains of crops, and accelerated integration of the cultivation, reproduction and spreading of such superior strains. Currently, more than 95 percent of the farmland nationwide is sown with superior strains of major crops, which contributes 40 percent to the grain output increase.

2. Water Resources

China has formulated National Comprehensive Plan for Water Resources, Seven Major River Basins' Flood Control Plan, National Mountain Torrent Disaster Prevention and Control Plan, National Plan to Guarantee the Safe Supply of Drinking Water to Urban Dwellers, and National Plan for the Eco-protection of Major Rivers and Lakes. It has strengthened river basin management and water resources allocation, and organized and implemented the work of diverting water from the Yellow River to Tianjin and Hebei Province, from the Qiantang River to Lake Taihu at time of urgent need, and ecological water re-charge to the Heihe and Tarim rivers. It has quickened the implementation of the strictest water resources control, and improved the policy system concerning the development, utilization, conservation and protection of water resources. It has started constructing a batch of water-shed flood control projects, while accelerating the pace of some key water conservancy projects and major water resource projects. It has tightened soil erosion control, and has completed the comprehensive improvement of 230,000 sq km of land suffering from water and soil erosion. It has completed the reinforcement of large and medium-sized reservoirs as well as key small ones in danger. More efforts have been made to guarantee the safe supply of drinking water to 210 million rural residents, meeting the relevant target set in the UN Millennium Development Goals six years in advance.

3. Marine Resources

China has strengthened the construction of a marine meteorological observation network. With such a network in place, the country has been able to observe the key climate factors in its offshore regions and some oceans, and basically built up a typical monitoring system in the eco-sensitive marine areas, thereby effectively enhancing its ability to monitor the sea-air carbon dioxide exchange flux. China has started redefining the national and provincial marine functional zoning, has started marine ecosystem restoration projects in the coastal areas and on key islands, and launched eco-restoration demonstration projects such as cultivating and replanting mangroves, protecting coral reefs by way of relocation, and returning coastal wetlands to beaches. The observation and early warning work related to storm surge, sea wave, tsunami, sea ice and other marine disasters have effectively reduced the casualties and property losses caused by such marine disasters. Observation, investigation and evaluation have been conducted of sea level rise, coastal erosion, seawater intrusion and saline tide, and the datum tide marks of 94 tidal gauging stations have been re-verified. Through comprehensive offshore investigation and evaluation, it has obtained systematic knowledge of the distribution, both spatially and temporally, of marine disasters. In addition, annual gazettes have been released on marine conditions, sea levels and marine disasters to provide information for preventing and combating various marine disasters.

4. Public Health

China has worked out and promulgated the National Health Emergency Response Plan against Natural Disasters (Trial) which has clearly defined the health-related goals and principles in case of floods and droughts, meteorological and biological disasters, and other natural disasters, established the natural disaster emergency response work system, the levels and measures of such response, and formulated emergency response work plans against different types of natural disasters. The Emergency Response Plan against High-temperature Heat-stroke (Trial) and National Environment and Health Action Plan (2007-2015) have also been enacted. Researches have been carried out in the monitoring of the quality of drinking water, the impact of air pollution on health, infectious diseases caused by climatic factors, the impacts of climate change on vector-borne parasitic diseases and water-borne communicable diseases, and other diseases caused by impacts of climate change on environment, so as to provide technical support for the formulation of policies and measures to adapt to climate change.

5. Meteorology

The meteorological departments have released and implemented the Weather Research Plan (2009-2014), Climate Research Plan (2009-2014), Applied Meteorology Research Plan (2009-2014) and Comprehensive Meteorological Observation Research Plan (2009-2014), and distributed the China Implementation Plan of the Climate Observation Systems, in an effort to promote the observation, pre-evaluation and evaluation of climate change. China has set up the first-generation operational system based on a dynamical climate model for short-term climate prediction, developed the new-generation dynamical climate model system, and conducted various evaluations regarding the impact of climate change on the safety of national grain supply, water supply, ecology and human health.