Shanghai Daily news

The death toll from massive flooding across China rose to 88 yesterday afternoon with another 73 missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported.
The heavy rainfall has caused dangerous landslides, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their home. Millions of people have been affected by the torrents.
The torrential rains began to pommel three neighboring provinces in the south on Tuesday, and it has swept the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region since last Saturday, authorities said.
As of 4pm yesterday, 88 people had been confirmed killed in the four areas and rescuers continued to search for the 73 missing. They have evacuated at least 215,000 people to safety so far.
The total number of people affected has approached 6 million, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Meanwhile the rain and flooding has toppled 69,000 houses and damaged nearly 200,000 others across Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces and the city of Altay in Xinjiang.
They also destroyed 310,000 hectares of crops.
The ministry yesterday put the direct economic losses from the floods at 2.47 billion yuan (US$296.4 million).
Hunan has been the hardest hit, with more than 200 millimeters of rainfall reported within a 24-hour period in some regions. The provincial government yesterday morning said 60 people had been killed and 69 others were missing across the province.
About 4 million people had been affected across the province, Hunan's flood and drought headquarters said. More than 203,000 of them have evacuated their homes.
The Hunan provincial government has allocated 5 million yuan for a flooding rescue fund, and the Ministry of Communications has pledged another 4 million yuan.
China Central Television reported authorities were shipping rice, medicine, clothes and candles to the affected villages.
An emergency team put together by the State Council, China's Cabinet, arrived in Hunan's Xinshao County yesterday to coordinate rescue efforts.
Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Jia Zhibang heads the team, which is made up of officials from eight departments at the State Council.
Xinshao took the brunt of the rain in Hunan, where mountain torrents had killed 32 people and left 45 missing, CCTV said yesterday, showing pictures of leveled wooden buildings and distraught villagers sifting through the debris for valuables.
The flooding is also believed to have wiped out mountain villages yet to be reached by rescuers, CCTV said.
This year's flood season officially started on Wednesday and will run into August. Hundreds of people die in the rainy season across the Chinese mainland every year. The government is forecasting even heavier rains this summer.
Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, who is in charge of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, ordered governments at all levels in the disaster-hit areas to quickly organize the disaster relief work, relocate the homeless people and safeguard the safety of the local reservoirs, Xinhua news agency reported.
The state flood headquarters issued an urgent notice on Wednesday, asking flood control departments at all levels to be on high alert against possible future disasters, Xinhua said.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health urged provincial and municipal authorities to improve prevention measures and strictly control any epidemics during the flood season.