英语文摘:Death toll rises to 377 in China's flooding this year

BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Floods in China have killed 377 people this year, as of Friday, and left 142 others missing, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said Friday in a statement on its website.

Further, flooding in 2010 has affected 64.57 million people in China's 22 provinces, municipalities and regions, as well as inundating about 4 million hectares of crops, the statement said.

A total of 4.35 million people have been evacuated due to the flood waters, which destroyed 368,000 homes and caused economic losses reaching 75.6 billion yuan (11.13 billion U.S. dollars), according to the statement.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited flood-hit Fuzhou City in the eastern province of Jiangxi Thursday to inspect the fight against flooding and review disaster relief efforts. Wen also asked local officials to send more relief funds and materials to ensure that basic living needs of flood victims are met.