Expat joins in disaster relief efforts in Ningbo

Giovanni Battista Belleri drove with an inflatable boat to Hengjie village to save the grandmother of his colleague, who was trapped by floodwaters, on July 27. [Photo/Ningbo Focus]

When Ningbo was hit by Typhoon In-Fa, which made landfall in Zhejiang province on July 25, Giovanni Battista Belleri from Italy lent his hand to disaster relief work in the city.

Belleri, the general manager of a foreign trade company in Ningbo, has been in the city since 2003. He was granted the title of communication officer for Ningbo by the local government in April, and was encouraged to tell stories about the city from his point of view.

On July 27, the grandmother of Chen Qiaoli, a colleague of Belleri, found herself trapped in an old residential area in Hengjie village which was inundated with meter-deep floodwaters. Belleri raced to the village with his inflatable boat to help Chen save his grandmother.

The next morning, Belleri took his water pump and cleaning equipment to Dongqiao town, the worst affected area in Ningbo, where he helped one of his suppliers clean up the water in the factory.

Having been living in Ningbo for 18 years, Belleri regards the city as his second home. "China is great," said Belleri when he saw how the disaster was put under control and people's lives were able to return to normal in such a short amount of time.