BEIJING, March 2(Xinhuanet)-- Landslides and other geological disasters caused more than two billion yuan in direct economic losses in China in 2004, the Ministry of Land and Resources(MLR) said in a recently-issued report.

The disasters mainly happened in central and west China's mountainous regions, which were hit by heavy rainfalls between June and September. Chongqing Municipality alone witnessed 308 such disasters, said the report.

Yunnan Province in southwest China suffered the highest economic losses in China, more than one billion yuan. Chongqing followed with 420 million yuan( 1 US dollar equals 8.27 yuan).

However, the total economic losses caused by geological disasters in 2004 were reduced by more than half from 2003, thanks to the implementation of the country's Regulations on the Prevention of Geological Disasters that had prompted localities tostep up their efforts in the regard, said a MLR official.

Meanwhile, human casualties caused by the disasters were also down remarkably, he said, without giving exact numbers.

According to the report, of the 976 disasters, 213 were successfully forecast by monitoring stations, winning time to evacuate more than 470,000 people.