Fuel supplies short as record freeze hits Beijing

Jan 5, 2010, 12:20 GMT

Beijing - The Chinese capital recorded its coldest day for 29 years on Tuesday as state media said fuel supplies were running short in parts of snow-hit northern China.

The temperature in central Beijing hit a low of minus 16 degrees Celsius early Tuesday and was forecast to dip again to a similar level overnight, while outlying suburban areas recorded temperatures as low as minus 23 degrees Celsius.

The city was still recovering from the heaviest snowfall in nearly 60 years over the weekend, while the official Xinhua news agency said some area heating schemes were struggling to maintain minimum indoor temperatures.

The agency quoted Zhou Gang, director of the State Grid's safety inspection department, as saying more than 3,000 staff were on duty to repair snow-damaged electricity power lines in Beijing.

The severe weather paralysed transportation in many parts of northern China on Monday, also affecting central and eastern regions as it moved southwards across China.

Some central and eastern China provinces were reporting shortages of coal for power generation, forcing several cities to reduce power supplies, the agency said.

The eastern city of Hangzhou also began rationing natural gas supplies for industrial users, it said.

China's daily electricity generation was up 27 per cent year-on-year from January 1-3, the State Grid said.

Schools in Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin were closed Monday while many expressways were also closed to traffic as the government mobilized 300,000 people to clear snow from Beijing's largely empty streets.

Snow up to 33.5 centimetres deep accumulated in parts of central Beijing while the outlying Huairou district reported snow lying up to 37.5 centimetres deep.

In the nearby Inner Mongolia region, about 1,400 passengers were rescued from a train stranded by heavy snow on Sunday.

Temperatures in Inner Mongolia's northernmost district of Hulun Buir, which borders Russia and Mongolia, were forecast to hit a low of minus 32 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.