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On August 28, Xi Jinping — general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, President of China, and chairman of the Central Military Commission — chaired a meeting of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau in Beijing devoted specifically to studying and deploying rescue and relief work for the landslide disaster in Gyirong County, Shigatse City, Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region. At the start of the meeting, Xi and fellow members of the Politburo Standing Committee — Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi — all rose and observed a moment of silence for those killed in the disaster. It was the second special session held by China's top leadership on this disaster, following the important instructions Xi issued on August 26 immediately after the landslide struck, underscoring how seriously Beijing is treating this cross-border natural disaster.

The mudslide disaster struck at around 10:30 a.m. on August 26. According to analysis verified by Chinese and Nepalese experts and official institutions, the disaster began with the collapse of a high-altitude glacier inside Nepal, which triggered a glacial debris flow that further evolved into a mudslide — a "chain disaster" in which the resulting torrent surged down the valley and struck Gyirong Port, on the Tibet side of the China-Nepal border, in Gyirong County, Shigatse City. Gyirong Port is Tibet's principal land trade crossing with Nepal, handling the vast majority of overland trade between the two countries; after the disaster, roads leading to the port, along with communications and power supplies, were completely cut off for a time, initially making it difficult for rescue forces to reach the core disaster zone. To open a way through, the forward command post organized a search-and-rescue assault team for the hardest-hit core area, which reached the China-Nepal border marker at 4:30 p.m. on August 27 before gradually pushing into the core disaster zone. According to the latest report as of 3 p.m. on August 28, the disaster had left 5 dead and 558 missing on the Chinese side, including 260 foreign nationals; on the far more severely affected Nepalese side, 579 deaths and 1,924 missing had been confirmed as of the evening of August 28 — underscoring the disaster's wide reach and heavy toll.

Immediately after the disaster, Xi Jinping issued important instructions stating that the urgent priorities were to spare no effort in searching for and rescuing missing persons, relocate and shelter residents under threat, and rush treatment to the injured, so as to minimize casualties, while also strengthening monitoring and early warning, emphasizing scientific rescue methods, and preventing secondary disasters. Following Xi's instructions and the requirements of Premier Li Qiang, Politburo member and Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing led officials from relevant departments to the disaster front line to direct rescue and disposal work, and visited resettlement sites to console affected residents. The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level-II national disaster relief emergency response on the day the disaster occurred, and the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Emergency Management, urgently allocated 120 million yuan in central natural disaster relief funds to support rescue and relief work in the disaster area.

Building on that groundwork, the CPC Central Committee Politburo meeting held on August 28 made further comprehensive arrangements for the next phase of rescue work. The meeting stressed that the principles of putting the people first and life first must be upheld, that saving lives must be treated as the overriding task, that search-and-rescue plans must be scientifically formulated, and that every effort must be made to search for missing persons both domestic and foreign; that the whole country's resources should be mobilized to support the disaster area, with all types of rescue forces and supplies and equipment coordinated to ensure rescue work proceeds efficiently and in good order; that comprehensive inspections should be carried out at the disaster site and surrounding areas to identify hidden risks of secondary disasters such as glacial lake outburst floods and further landslides, and to strictly prevent improper handling from triggering new dangers; and that emergency humanitarian assistance should be provided to Nepal's disaster-hit areas, with international rescue cooperation carried out jointly with Nepal on cross-border search and rescue.

It is unusual, in China's past disaster-response practice, for the CPC general secretary to personally chair a Politburo meeting devoted specifically to studying and deploying rescue work for a single natural disaster — such work is normally coordinated by the State Council and relevant departments such as the Ministry of Emergency Management. That this disaster was elevated to dedicated deployment at the Politburo level reflects, to some degree, the fact that it involves a cross-border geological chain reaction, has caused a large number of casualties, and involves numerous foreign nationals — giving it a severity and complexity beyond that of an ordinary natural disaster.

China's natural disaster emergency management operates under a system of unified leadership, comprehensive coordination, tiered responsibility, and management primarily at the local level. Under the current National Natural Disaster Relief Emergency Plan, once indicators such as the number of dead and missing or the scale of population requiring emergency relocation reach corresponding thresholds, a disaster relief emergency response ranging from lower to higher tiers can be activated, led by the National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Emergency Management, which coordinate the deployment of forces including the People's Liberation Army, the People's Armed Police, fire and rescue teams, and specialized rescue enterprises. After this disaster occurred, the PLA and the Armed Police responded immediately: the Xizang Military Command deployed more than 500 personnel, four helicopters and multiple sorties of drones, establishing a combined land-and-air rescue corridor; the Xizang Military Command General Hospital assembled a 60-person emergency medical team fully equipped for emergency surgery and treatment of severe injuries, ready to receive evacuated casualties; and specialized rescue forces such as China Energy Engineering Group's Anneng construction unit also joined the rescue effort immediately. By incomplete count, all sides have mobilized a cumulative total of 2,141 rescue personnel, deployed 269 rescue vehicles and 3,922 sets of rescue equipment to the front line in Gyirong — a concrete illustration of the deployment requirement to "mobilize the whole nation to support the disaster area" being implemented at every level.

Because the disaster originated inside Nepal and spilled over into China's border area, it has a clear cross-border character; Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian repeatedly addressed related questions at regular press briefings, saying China is maintaining close communication with Nepal, working together to advance search-and-rescue efforts, and will provide emergency assistance according to Nepal's needs. The Foreign Ministry also confirmed that those missing include foreign tourists and pilgrims, with identity information still being verified. Some analysts note that this disaster, which struck the Himalayan region and caused major casualties in both China and Nepal, also points to rising geological hazard risks — such as high-altitude glacier melt and glacial lake outburst floods — linked to climate change, posing new challenges to infrastructure and cross-border personal safety along the China-Nepal border.

Press briefings on the Gyirong landslide disaster in Shigatse, Tibet were held on August 28 and 30, updating the public on rescue progress, verification of missing persons' identities, and monitoring and early-warning measures for secondary disasters. Search-and-rescue work is still under way, with the forward command post continuing to adjust its plans based on hydrological, meteorological and geological monitoring data. This dedicated Politburo meeting on rescue and relief deployment is seen as a further sign of the sustained, high-level attention China's top leadership is giving to this major natural disaster; whether the follow-up rescue measures are effectively carried out will also serve as an important window for observing the operational effectiveness of China's disaster emergency mobilization system.