NE China fighting serious drought

Changchun (CNS) -- Northeast China's Jilin Province, one of the country's main grain producing regions, has been suffering from a winter-long drought with no signs there will be relief this coming spring, the provincial authority admitted last Monday.

So far, the province has a dry area of about 30 million mu (2 million hectares), and a paddy field of more than 2.5 million mu, said Deputy Governor Wang Shouchen.

Statistics from the provincial meteorological office confirm there has been less rainfall than in normal years, a situation creating a general water shortage as well as a threat to this year's harvest.

The province has been taking action. In the capital city, Changchun, thousands of electromechanical wells have been drilled, and the meteorological office is using artificial precipitation technology as well as closely monitoring the drought situation.