China must act to prevent epidemics in flood-hit Heilongjiang

China must act to prevent epidemics from breaking out in flood-hit areas of the country such as Heilongjiang and ensure a smooth return to agricultural production, state news agency Xinhua quoted vice premier Liu Guozhong as saying on Monday.

Damaged farmland, water conservation and other infrastructure will need to be quickly repaired to ensure a speedy recovery in grain production, Liu was quoted as saying.

Liu made the remarks while visiting the northeastern province of Heilongjiang where floods have swamped farmland, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the past few days.

The country has had an unusually wet and rainy summer season with massive flooding in its northern and northeastern provinces, such as in Hebei where more than 1.5 million people had to be evacuated in early August.

"It is necessary to implement various assistance measures for people who have been lifted out of poverty (but have been) affected by the disaster, and resolutely prevent the return to poverty on a large scale," Xinhua quoted Liu as saying.

Some villages remain flooded with poor water quality and a polluted environment posing a risk of infectious diseases occurring, Liu said, according to Xinhua.

"It is necessary to strengthen publicity and education on health and epidemic prevention," Liu said, including strictly monitoring drinking water quality and food hygiene testing.

Autumn grain in areas not affected by the disasters is growing well, Liu said, adding that it was necessary to increase the yield of major grain and oil crops across a large area to boost production.