China insurance authorities urged insurance companies nationwide to survey and settle insurance claims involving floods as part of efforts to help farmers to resume production.

As of July 31, total insurance indemnities to the nation's agriculture industry caused by floods across the country were estimated to be 1.21 billion yuan (US$178.7 million), the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement posted on its website Tuesday.

Devastating floods hit central China's Hunan province and eastern Anhui province and northeast Jilin Province this summer, destroying farm production. The expected insurance claims in each of the three provinces was estimated to exceed 200 million yuan, according to the statement.

China suffered a string of natural disasters this summer, including a massive mudslide that hit Zhouqu county, northwest China's Gansu Province on Aug. 8 and, so far, resulted in the deaths of 1,447 residents.

Also, a devastating flood in Jilin, China's main grain-growing region, affected at least 1.25 million hectares of crops and caused 45 billion yuan (US$6.6 billion) in damages.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2010)