The southwestern Chinese regions of Chonqging and Sichuan were battling fires on Tuesday as they awaited a long-anticipated drop in temperatures over the next week, but the country's important autumn harvest could remain threatened.
Officials warned this month that temperatures were rising faster in China than in the rest of the world and a record-breaking heatwave has raised concern about its ability to adapt to rapid climate change and conserve already scarce water resources.
State forecasters said the heatwave, which has lasted more than two months, was about to hit a "turning point", with a cold front coming in from the west and a typhoon approaching in the southeast. Despite the power shortfall, which has led to curbs on industrial usage, economists at ANZ said in a note it was unlikely China would see a repeat of last year's nationwide energy shortage, which was caused by tight coal supplies.Sichuan normally delivers huge volumes of hydroelectric power to the east coast via the power grid, and the lower output means that coal-fired power plants elsewhere have had to pick up the slack.
Authorities also raised a fire "red alert", warning that the situation was "extremely dangerous" in the forested areas of central and southern Chongqing and eastern Sichuan, the official China News Service reported.
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