50,000 short of water in south China drought

More than 50,000 people in southern China's Guangdong province are suffering from water shortages as a spreading drought has left farmers' fields dry and cracked, state media reported Sunday.

Guangdong's annual average rainfall this year was 1,400 millimetres, down 13 percent down from previous years, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing drought relief officials.

In Renhua county in Shaoguan city, one of the worst-hit areas, reservoir levels this year have been 78.2 percent of normal levels, Huang Fuyang, deputy head of the county, was quoted as saying.

Cracks can be seen in fields due to drought, the report said, adding that more then 53,000 hectares of farmland had been affected.

More than 67.7 million yuan (10 million dollars) has been earmarked for drought relief by various levels of government, the report said.

Drought has hit several parts of north, central and southern China this year, leaving millions short of water.

Nearly five million people were affected by drought that hit in late July and lasted until last month in an area spanning Inner Mongolia province in the north to Jilin province in the northeast, earlier state media reports said.

In Liaoning province, next to Jilin, the situation was the worst in 60 years, with half of all arable land having dried up, reports said.

Meanwhile, the provinces of Hubei and Hunan in central China have also suffered drought, as they have been hard hit by a combination of low rainfall and high temperatures, reports said.