China issued red alerts across swathes of the north and west on Thursday as the annual “Plum Rains” swept from Sichuan through Gansu to Liaoning, unleashing flash floods and landslides. Rail operators halted some Beijing-bound trains and a capital-area airport reported delays and cancellations amid the downpours. State media said more than 1,000 rescue workers were sent to Taiping in central Henan after a river burst its banks, killing five people and leaving three missing. Two further fatalities were confirmed when heavy rain triggered a landslide at a construction site in Gansu. Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, touring neighbouring Hebei, told local officials to evacuate residents ahead of forecast deluges. In the south, video verified by Reuters showed a five-storey building under construction in Xinzhou, Guangxi, sliding into the Lengshui River within seconds when water-logged soil gave way. The river was experiencing its worst flooding since at least 2005, and local authorities had already evacuated households in nearby Pingliu Village after earlier landslides. Meteorologists warn that extreme rainfall events linked to climate change are straining China’s flood defences and threatening its $2.8 trillion agricultural sector. Last July’s rains caused more than $10 billion in economic losses, and officials say the current storm pattern could intensify in the coming days.