People fill sandbags as a flood control tool in Jiangshe village of Xiangtan City, central China's Hunan Province, July 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong has called for concrete and effective flood control and relief work to ensure the safety of people's lives as well as major embankments and other infrastructure.

The situation for flood control and relief remains grave and complex, Wang said during a two-day inspection trip to Hunan province, which has been suffering from heavy rainfall and reported several floods.

Wang urged improvement of decision-making and coordination mechanism to ensure people can be alerted in time.

He also emphasized the importance of patrolling vulnerable regions to ensure no crack emergencies at major dams and embankments.

China has seen a record number of rivers reporting floods since this year's high-water season began, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

A total of 377 rivers across the country have reported water exceeding alarm levels, over 80 percent more than the annual number of such rivers registered since 1998 when severe floods hit China.?