Scorching heat threatens China’s cities and rice-growing regions, plus other updates

For PropertyGuru’s news roundup, scorching temperatures baked China’s megacities, while the heat stoked fears of damage to rice crops. In other stories, Vietnam’s Lao Cai province uses its strengths to develop new tourism products that meet tourists’ travel trends. Finally, the data breach affecting 11 million customers of Jollibee Foods Corporation in the Philippines could be part of a string of extortion or ransomware activities happening worldwide.

Chinese cities swelter in record heat, rice-growing regions under threat

Extreme heat baked megacities on the eastern Chinese seaboard and sharply pushed up demand for power to cool homes and offices, while scorching temperatures in China’s interior stoked fears of damage to rice crops.

According to Reuters, local authorities of the megacity of Hangzhou, home to 12.5 million people and some of China’s largest companies, banned all non-essential outdoor lighting and light shows this week to conserve energy as extreme heat tested power grids.

Chinese meteorologists say the record heat in 2024 has been fuelled by global warming despite the cooling effects of the La Nina weather phenomenon.

This year, China was hit by its warmest spring since 1961, followed by the hottest May that was followed by weeks of drought-like conditions in the central farmland region. The heat coincides with the harvest of the early-season rice crop in those provinces, spurring calls for increased irrigation to keep fields cool.

Lao Cai in Vietnam makes use of strengths to meet tourists’ travel trends

The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai has made use of its strengths to develop new tourism products that meet tourists’ travel trends.

One of the new products that have drawn a large number of visitors recently is farm stay which allows tourists to join locals in agricultural activities such as growing vegetables or raising fish and livestock, and harvesting and using their products to cook meals, as per VietnamPlus.

Ta Van commune in Sa Pa town is well-known for community-based tourism villages that draw numerous tourists. Grasping tourists’ needs, many local homestay service providers have used their agricultural production area to create unforgettable experiences for visitors.

The Philippines’ Jollibee data breach could be related to global extortion activities

The data breach affecting 11 million customers of Jollibee Foods Corporation could be part of a string of extortion or ransomware activities happening worldwide, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said Wednesday in a PNA report.

“In our investigation, this may be connected with the many extortion activities happening around the world specifically this June,” NPC Compliance and Monitoring Division chief Rainier Anthony Millanes said in Filipino during a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview.

Ransomware activities involve the use of malware that holds sensitive data or devices hostage belonging to a company or individual with the threat to keep it locked unless the victim pays a ransom.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].