China reports more frequent extreme weather events

BEIJING -- China is vulnerable to global climate change, experiencing more frequent and intense extreme weather events, according to a blue book released by the China Meteorological Administration on Friday.

Since the 1990s, China has been warming at a rate faster than the global average, and its annual average temperature and coastal sea levels both reached record highs in 2024, the blue book on climate change in China said.

Due to the impacts of climate change, the country saw more frequent extreme high-temperature and heavy precipitation events from 1961 to 2024.

The overall sea level along China's coast has risen at an accelerating rate, and glaciers in western China have been melting more rapidly.

Global warming has persisted, with the worldwide average surface temperature reaching its highest level in 2024 since meteorological records began in 1850.

Xiao Chan, deputy director of the National Climate Center, said the increase in temperature should be attributed to human activities -- primarily greenhouse gas emissions -- and to natural variations within climate systems, such as the El Nino weather phenomenon.