Footage from Chinese state television shows unmanned aircraft carrying out cloud seeding operations and ground workers firing missiles.
Posted at 11:15 a.m.
The aim is to create artificial rains as a devastating drought, exacerbated by a record-breaking heatwave, sweeps across half of China.
Whole sections of the country are concerned, with in particular a wide strip which includes the southern part of the autonomous region of Tibet, which is very mountainous, and extends towards the coastal regions to the east, the economic heart of China.
This vast area, which has a total of more than 370 million inhabitants, mainly follows the route of the Yangtze River, a precious source of drinking water.
Some parts of Tibet are among the drought zones qualified as “severe” or “exceptional” by the national meteorology.
In Sichuan (southwest), where a locality had reached 44 degrees on Wednesday, heavy rains however locally refreshed the atmosphere of this mountainous region.
For safety, nearly 30,000 people had to be evacuated, state television CCTV reported on Thursday.
This heat wave also represents a challenge for agriculture, in a country which is already in normal times in deficit of arable land.
Drought is particularly problematic for rice and soybean crops, which are very water-intensive.