Severe drought in south China shows no signs of easing

Despite some rain, the severe drought in south and Southwest China shows no signs of easing.

The dry spell has affected 7.6 million hectares of farmland around the country. 84 percent of the country's parched farmland lies in the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing Municipality. Nearly 19-million people and 12-million head of livestock are short of drinking water. Over 4-billion yuan has been devoted to disaster relief, half of which was contributed by the central government. 30-thousand soldiers and 200-thousand reservists are busy with the relief work. They delivered 44-thousand tons of fresh water and dug nearly 1-thousand wells in the drought-plagued region.