Citizens visiting the Beijing Meteorological Station (File photo)

China’s modern meteorological service has witness rapid advancement, according to the head of China Meteorological Administration (CMA), the country’s weather service agency that was recognized as the World Meteorological Centre by World Meteorological Organization.

Liu Yaming, CMA administrator, said it at a conference of meteorological departments celebrating the 40th anniversary of the country’s reform and opening up held on Dec. 27.

China has built the world’s largest comprehensive integrated meteorological observation system over the past four decades, with over 2,400 automatic state-level ground meteorological observation stations, and about 60,000 regional meteorological observation stations. The system covers 96 percent of villages and towns across the country.

The country has launched 17 Fengyun meteorological satellites, with eight operational satellites in orbit around the Earth, and set up 198 new-generation Doppler weather radars, forming a comprehensive meteorological disaster monitoring and early-warning network.

With a real-time, modern weather forecasting system, China can provide global weather forecasting with 10km resolution, national smart grid forecasting with 5km resolution and regional forecasting with 1km resolution. This enables China to offer professional weather forecasting services such as typhoons, heavy polluted weather, sandstorms, and geological disasters including mountain torrents.