Rural disaster training

A Chinese official on Thursday called for more training to prepare the country's "left-behind" rural population for natural disasters.

Citing United Nations data, Lai Hongzhou, with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that female casualties far outnumber male ones in rural areas after natural disasters.

Many men having left for better-paying jobs in cities, leaving behind their wives and elderly parents to farm land and raise their children. Such groups are usually more fragile when disasters hit, Lai noted at a seminar on disaster management in East China's Jiangxi province.

Lai suggested that local governments strengthen interaction with vulnerable groups.