Seven people were killed as China is battling floods along the Yangtze River in the south while the northern regions, including Beijing, is enduring a scorching heatwave.
The Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said the water levels in major tributaries of the Yangtze River are rapidly rising in the middle and lower reaches.
About 4.40 lakh people have been evacuated in Jiangxi.
This morning, a landslide buried two residential buildings in a village in Xiushui County.
In Jiangxi province, seven people were killed and two were listed missing due to flood in the past ten days, according to the statistics of the provincial flood control headquarters.
More than 70 passenger trains passing Jiangxi Province were suspended from today till Monday due to floods, said the Nanchang Railway Bureau in Jiangxi, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.
The headquarters ordered the 'Three Gorges Reservoir of the Yangtze' to reduce the flow of discharging to 18,000 cubic metres per second to relieve the flood pressure downstream.
Floods have already hit the Xiangjiang, Yuanjiang and Zishui rivers in central China's Hunan, the worst-hit province. The rain continues to batter Changsha, the provincial capital, and other cities such as Xiangtan and Huaihua.
The level of the Xiangjiang River in Changsha stood at 38.6 meters, well above the warning level of 36 metres and only 57 cm lower than its highest record level, according to the Hunan Provincial Hydrological Bureau.
The level of the Zishui River in Taojiang County was only 38 cm lower than its record level in history, said the bureau.
As of today, a 20-meter stretch of the Taxi river, a small branch of the Zishui River, burst due to flood, according to a local official.
The Hunan flood control and drought relief headquarters raised the flood response from Grade III to Grade II on Saturday. The province has mobilised soldiers, officials and villagers, allocated funds and sent relief supplies to affected areas.
As of Saturday, the rain had caused an evacuation of 310,000 in the Hunan province.
Downpours also hit Hubei, Guizhou and Jiangxi provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
In north China, a heatwave affected Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, with temperatures reaching 35 to 37 degrees Celsius today, said the center.
In Beijing, many residents chose to stay indoors over the weekend due to the hot weather.
The NMC forecast the heat wave will continue in the north until Tuesday. Some areas will see temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius in Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Shaanxi on Sunday.
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