(Yicai Global) July 6 -- China was hammered by a slew of natural disasters in the first half that led to economic losses of CNY81.2 billion (USD11.5 billion), the country's Ministry of Emergency Management said today.

Floods, forest fires, hailstorms, earthquakes, droughts and freezing temperatures have affected 49.6 million people, with 271 dead or missing, it added.

In recent weeks, the country has been battered by the heaviest rainfall in decades, causing CNY39.3 billion worth of damage. Some 17.7 million people have been impacted and 119 are feared dead or missing.

More than 600 emergency rescue teams, consisting of 1,838 vehicles and 1,658 boats, were dispatched as of July 3 to engage in flood-fighting. They have so far saved 6,186 people in distress and evacuated more than 30,000 trapped by the rising waters.

Editor: Kim Taylor