China is facing financial catastrophe as flood waters continue to wreak havoc across industrial and agricultural regions.
Officials say losses could be as high as $25bn and knock 0.5% off China's projected economic growth.
The areas affected by the floods include some of the country's most fertile agricultural land and most important industrial regions.
It will take weeks for the water to subside and Chinese farmers, who have lost this year's harvest, are expecting knock-on problems well into next year.
One aid worker says: There has been destruction of property, power
lines, water supplies. We are probably talking in terms of years
rather than months.
The official line has changed as the floods have worsened, showing a greater acceptance of the scale of the disaster and acknowledging that deforestation may have played a part.
Officials have tried to rally the people, using television pictures of workers at the 'front-line' singing upbeat songs. There is also a price cap for essentials such as basic foods and building materials.
Flood facts
More than 14 million people have lost their homes to the ever-rising waters of the Yangtze and Songhua rivers.
The Songhua and other rivers in China's north-east are expected to reach their highest levels this century.
One in five of China's population has experienced the floods at first hand as civilians joined soldiers waist deep in water trying to repair flood defences.
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