Forecast of heavier rain poses flood control challenge

A government official has warned of more flooding in late July and early August along the Yangtze River and in North China as torrential rains are expected to hit the country in the next few weeks.

Liu Zhiyu, chief of the Hydrology Intelligence and Forecasting Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, said 80 percent of the country's major floods take place between late July and early August when the rainstorms are usually stronger and cause larger floods.

"That is why there are still tough tests ahead, and the situation could be even more complicated and changeable when coupled with the effects of El Nino," he told a news briefing on Thursday.