China drought hits factory output

FACTORIES in China’s Sichuan province and nearby Chongqing in the south west were ordered to shut down after reservoirs that supply hydropower fell to half their normal levels and demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures. China’s driest summer in six decades has set off a scramble to contain the damage to a weak economy in a politically sensitive year. The Yangtze basin, covering parts of 19 provinces, produces 45% of China’s economic output, but the river is down to half its size.