China said on Thursday that it will step up efforts to push forward its capacity construction for meteorological disaster monitoring and early warnings.

The country aims to release warning information of disastrous weather conditions at least 15 to 30 minutes before their arrival by 2015, and make the warning information available to more than 90 percent of the population, according to a guideline posted on the government website (www.gov.cn).

The warnings for meteorological disasters, including typhoons, rainstorms, blizzards and tornados, will be issued through TV and radio broadcasts and in text messages to the public, according to the statement.

The country vows to build up a comprehensive system of weather monitoring, early warnings and information release by 2020 and strive to make disaster-warning information available to all residents in cities, rural areas and coastal regions, the guideline said.

It noted the country is also making efforts to promote the development of weather satellites, new-generation meteorological radars, and computer systems to improve the accuracy of disaster monitoring.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2011)