China's coastal areas face increasing risks from rising sea levels: Report
May 05, 2021
Beijing [China], May 5 : The sea levels along China's coastal areas have continued to rise at an accelerated pace in the past 40 years, posing a risk to these areas, Xinhua reported citing an official report.
It further reported that it is expected that the sea level along China's coast will rise by 55 to 170 mm in the next 30 years.
From 1980 to 2020, the sea levels along the country's coast rose at a rate of 3.4 mm per year with fluctuations, the report noted, adding that the rise was above the global average in the same period.
In 2020, the sea levels along China's coast were 73 mm higher than that of the normal years, the third-highest since 1980.
China should protect its coasts based on the ecological concept and comprehensively improve the adaptability of rising sea levels, the report added.
Despite this China has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Beijing's rising assertiveness against counter claimants in the East and South Sea has resulted in unprecedented agreement across the Indo-Pacific.
