Submitted by Mike Grenville on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:03

In a year with more severe natural disasters than last year in China, the number of people affected and the death toll has decreased because of an SMS warning system.

Up to 22nd August this year, natural disasters in China have affected 310 million people and cost 126.4 billion yuan (US$16.85 billion ), according to the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) reports that SMS has played an important role in helping reduce the impact of disastrous weather in China.

Before the recent Typhoon Sepat that swept China's central province of Hunan, local meteorological authorities issued typhoon warnings by sending text messages to 2.25 million mobile phone users all over the province. As a result construction on transportation projects and in collieries was suspended before the typhoon arrived.

In Sichuan, China Mobile has invested 150 million yuan (US$20 million) this year to install information terminals that receive SMS, among the 50,000 villages across the southwest province.

China has more than 508 million mobile phone users by the end of July this year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Information Industry.