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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

Sichuan

Four years on: What China got right when rebuilding after the Sichuan earthquake

Submitted by Vivian Argueta Bernal, co-authors: Paul Procee on Fri, 2012-05-11 16:11
The devastation from the Sichuan earthquake was immense; the recovery, impressive.

Four years ago on May 12, 2008, the world was stunned by the news of an 8-magnitude massive earthquake that struck Wenchuan of Sichuan Province and affected, in total, ten provinces in Southwestern China.  

Official estimates put the number of affected people at 46.25 million, with some 69,227 deceased, 17,923 missing and 15 million displaced from their homes.

During our visits to those areas back then, we witnessed how water, electricity and gas systems were largely paralyzed and telecommunications and transportation severely disrupted.  General infrastructure was also overwhelmingly damaged, with approximately 7,444 schools and 11,028 medical institutions and 34,125 kilometers of highways devastated, in a region that was already among the poorest and most vulnerable in China.

The overall direct economic loss was estimated to be RMB 845 billion (US$ 130 billion).

In face of these severe human, material, economic and environmental damages, the Chinese government immediately set in motion a comprehensive relief and reconstruction program.

Two years after the Sichuan earthquake: still working "black and white, five plus two" on disaster recovery

Submitted by Eleanor Dougoud on Wed, 2010-05-12 14:48
Remembering May 12, 2008 - a boy in Weima Town looks at the Town’s rebuilding plans with the construction going on around.

Today is the second anniversary of the Sichuan - Wenchuan disaster, two years since the 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit six provinces in China, killing more than 68,000 people and affecting an area roughly equating to 60% of Texas, or 80% of France. It is these rough calculations that have stuck in my mind for the last two years, since the Bank started working with the government of China on an emergency recovery loan. The immensity of the task being undertaken in reconstructing the 4 million homes destroyed, restarting livelihoods and restoring hope for the 15 million people affected is very difficult to comprehend. 

The resilience of the people affected is incredible, as is the continued dedication and drive of those working in the reconstruction and recovery program in the affected area. The team in Sichuan on the government side coined a term during a Bank mission: “black and white, five plus two” when they talked of how they were still working day and night, weekdays and weekends. Every mission since we remember it and joke about it, but it has a sincere and valid reality behind it.

Saving lives one building at a time: Post-disaster urban search and rescue in China

Submitted by Abhas Jha on Mon, 2010-04-05 00:03

We have all probably heard the old adage “Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do”. Recent temblors in Haiti and earlier in China have tragically demonstrated the truth of this. Out-of-date building codes and regulations, poor enforcement and badly-planned urbanization have all greatly increased the risk of urban disasters all over the developing world.

First responders from Shanghai training for the Shanghai Expo 2010

The first 72 hours after the disaster are the critical time for urban search and rescue (USAR) teams to save people from under collapsed buildings. We have all seen the fantastic job done by the international USAR teams in Haiti. The procedural deployment and standards of these teams are coordinated by UN-OCHA’s International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG). This is a global network of more than 80 countries and organizations focusing on USAR related issues.  Members are from both earthquake-prone and responding countries. It was established in 1991 following initiatives of international USAR teams which responded to the 1988 Armenia earthquake and aims to establish standards and classification for international USAR teams as well as methodology for international response coordination in the aftermath of earthquakes and collapsed structure disasters.

Supporting education in remote areas of Western Sichuan, China

Submitted by Emmanuel Jimenez on Tue, 2009-10-20 17:17
There were perhaps too many children to a class, but these were clearly participatory.

It’s usually pretty hard for a World Bank sector director to make a spontaneous site visit.  But this one was fortuitous.  The informal school visit was hastily arranged when I realized my vacation tour would run through remote townships where World Bank projects have been supporting government in improving education through the Basic Education in Western Areas Project (BEWAP)…townships that had not, to my knowledge, been visited by previous missions.  I wasn’t sure exactly when I would arrive at each town on this trip so the visits could not be pre-arranged in advance.  Luckily, the whole province is almost totally ‘wired,’ so, the day before, I was able to call our Beijing office, which made arrangements for the Ministry of Education to contact the headmaster of the Tagong Township School with no difficulty.  In fact, the quality of the telecom coverage was better than that in many parts of Washington DC – like my office where my cell phone often doesn’t work unless the weather is clear and I press my face up against the window. 
 

Web videos for a cause: using films to raise awareness, donations

Submitted by James I Davison on Mon, 2009-07-06 17:14

A while back, I saw this blog post, written by a Global Voices blogger Juliana Rincón Parra, highlighting storytellers using online videos to raise awareness about hunger in the Philippines. Among other videos, the blogger pointed out one film in particular, called Chicken a la Carte, a touching video that has been viewed thousands of times after spreading virally on the web through social media sites and email.

This got me thinking, and wondering, about how else online videos are being used to raise awareness of issues and spread word about charities and organizations. It is clear that a short film or video, if done well, can be an incredibly effective at turning an issue we’ve heard of into something much more personal and emotional. And as the Chicken a la Carte film shows, sites like YouTube can facilitate a video’s rapid and widespread broadcasting to mindboggling degrees.

Zai jian – Goodbye – See you again: a look back on China's progress upon leaving the World Bank

Submitted by David Dollar on Thu, 2009-07-02 11:46

This is my last week in the World Bank, after working at the institution for 20 years, the last five as country director for China and Mongolia.

A few weeks ago I had the unique opportunity to camp out on top of the Great Wall, which was a fitting exclamation mark at the end of my five years as the World Bank's China Country Director. It was a cloudy, drizzly day as we started, but then cleared up and turned into a lovely evening. The large group of kids we had with us slept in one of the guard towers along the wall, but I and a few others opted to sleep under the stars. The next morning opened with some mist, but then turned into a spectacular blue day. Some long-term Beijing residents hiking with us noted that they couldn’t recall ever seeing the countryside so green.

Beijing’s dry climate sets a limit on how green and blue it’s ever going to get, but the improvement over five years is noticeable and is one of the two most striking achievements of China in this period. In many cities, air pollution has declined as a result of policies that include banning the use of coal in inner cities, strengthening public transportation, discouraging car use (gasoline now costs 50% more than in the U.S.), moving heavy industry out of inner cities, and more stringent enforcement of environmental regulations.

From Wenchuan to L'Aquila, key after the quake is the work of volunteers

Submitted by Mara Warwick on Sun, 2009-05-24 23:17
A fireman showing the Bank's Global Disaster Management team around Onna.

Two countries, two cultures, a world apart, but I have learnt this week that the human face of the Wenchuan and L’Aquila earthquake tragedies is not dissimilar.  I am in the beautiful historic town of L’Aquila, devastated by the earthquake which struck the Ambruzzo region of central Italy at 3:30am on April 6, 2009. 

Sharing global best practice is one of our most important jobs as Bank staff.  This past week a group of eleven staff from all over the Bank, including four from country offices (Haiti, Aceh, Islamabad and Beijing), who all share the task of helping Bank clients prepare for and respond to disasters came to Italy to learn about the L’Aquila earthquake response.  We are here as guests of the Civil Protection Agency of Italy – a most gracious host – to learn from their experiences in managing the L’Aquila earthquake.  The mission has been organized by the Bank’s recently formed Global Expert Team for Disaster Management, of which I am a member. 

Day of reflection: One year after Sichuan earthquake, signs of recovery and hope in China

Submitted by Mara Warwick on Tue, 2009-05-12 10:21

We have heard stories of tragedy since the Sichuan - Wenchuan Earthquake, but we have also seen the signs of recovery and hope.

Today is a day of reflection in China. The Sichuan - Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008, was an event of immense significance for the people of China. It was one of those events that occur maybe once in a generation, where for many years to come, much discussion will center on the question "where were you when you heard the news?"

Today is also a day of reflection for me. I am thinking about all of the people we have met in Sichuan over the last year who have been affected by the earthquake – the millions who have lost their homes, their land and their livelihood. I am also thinking about the many, many people who have lost loved ones – their children, parents, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers and friends. I have met and spoken with some of these survivors over the last year and they are in my mind today.

China’s reform: 'Change the system, open the door'

Submitted by David Dollar on Tue, 2008-12-23 15:54

Chinese farmers prospered under the return to the household responsibility system. Nationwide, grain production jumped 20 percent as a result of strengthened incentives.

Last week was the 30th birthday of the launching of China's reform and opening up. During the week I got to travel around rural Sichuan with World Bank President Bob Zoellick. The purpose of the trip was to visit the earthquake-devastated Beichuan town and to see the reconstruction efforts, which will be supported by a $710 million loan from the World Bank. Mara Warwick described our visit on her blog.

With our visit falling during the week of the 30th anniversary, I naturally thought of my first trip to rural Sichuan. After teaching at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the spring of 1986, I traveled around the country by myself for about a month. The highlight was traveling by local bus through rural Yunnan and Sichuan.

Slowly but surely, life returns in earthquake-affected China

Submitted by Mara Warwick on Mon, 2008-12-15 14:30

Much that remains of Beichuan, China from the earthquake, is buried – reclaimed by the environment.

It has been seven months since the Wenchuan Earthquake devastated Sichuan Province and I have just returned from my seventh trip to the quake zone, this time with World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Yesterday we traveled three hours by bus from Chengdu to Beichuan, the town that was most severely affected during the earthquake. On May 12, the day of the 7.8- magnitude earthquake, buildings collapsed and mountains came crashing down, burying thousands. The ground literally opened up and swallowed people, cars and buildings. A staggering 12,000 people died in Beichuan on that day – about 74 percent of the town's population. More than a thousand children died at the high school alone.