China deploys cloud-seeding planes and cuts electricity use as record heatwave takes toll

China battling its longest heatwave on record, with energy-intensive industries suspended and dams opened to boost flagging hydropower

China is scrambling to alleviate power shortages and bring more water to the drought-hit basin of the Yangtze river as it battles a record-breaking heatwave by seeding clouds, deploying relief funds and developing new sources of supply.

For more than two months, baking temperatures have disrupted crop growth, threatened livestock and forced industries in the hydropower-dependent regions of the south-west to shut down to ensure electricity supplies for homes.