Floods claimed 1,841 lives and inflicted direct economic loss of 127.3 billion yuan (16.3 billion U.S. dollars) in China last year, government sources said in Shijiazhuang on Saturday.

According to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, 145 million people and more than 151 million mu (about 10 million hectares) of cropland were affected by floods in 2006.

China suffered abnormal climate and frequent extreme weather last year, said Wang Shucheng, minister of water resources, at a conference held here in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province.

Last year, seven typhoons swept southeast China and frequent land slides hit east provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, central China's Hunan Province and west China's Guangxi Province.

Severe drought affected southwest China, especially Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province.

Last year's extreme weather caused the most damage since 1998 when severe flooding ravaged the country, according Wang.

China is one of the countries most prone to disasters. Every year, 50 million hectares of farmland and 400 million people are affected by all types of natural disasters with economic losses reaching one to three percent of GDP.

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