Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua urged authorities to raise weather modification operations to a new level during a conference in Beijing on Sept 14.

2018 marks the 60th anniversary of China’s weather modification operation, and it’s playing a more obvious role in disaster prevention and mitigation, agricultural public service system construction and water resource security, Hu said.

Economic and social development have put forward new requirements for weather modification operations, and it is necessary to promote scientific, precise and safe operations, improving quality and efficiency, he added.

He also said that it is necessary to strengthen basic research and application technology research, and accelerate the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements, enhancing the level of innovation-driven development.

Safety supervision and organization work of weather modification operations were also emphasized at the conference.