Local residents evacuate from a flooded area in Wuzhou city, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 22, 2005. (newsphoto)

Floods, landslides and mudslides have killed 528 people across China so far this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday. Another 137 people remained missing.
Authorities have relocated at least 2.04 million people during the period, according to the ministry.
The ministry estimated direct economic losses at 19.5 billion yuan (US$2.34 billion).
"The loss in this period is heavier than the average level of the same period since the 1990s, but still below the level in 1991 and 1998," said an official with the ministry.
Heavy rains and powerful mudslides since June 16 have swamped the country's southern regions, killing at least 105 and forcing the evacuation of more than 1 million from flooding that is claimed to be the worst in a century in some places. About 60 people remained missing.
The flood peak of Xijiang River, a branch of south China's Pearl River, has passed the city of Wuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said in Beijing yesterday afternoon.
The flood peak reached 26.75 meters at 12pm yesterday, 9.45 meters higher than the warning level. The water flux was 53,000 cubic meters per second.
The torrents kept moving to the lower reaches. The Gaoyao hydrometric station in Guangdong Province reported a 12.46-meter water level at 2pm, 0.46 meters above the warning line.
In east China's coastal province of Fujian, the torrential rains and flood from the upper reaches brought about a swelling in the Minjiang River yesterday.
The largest water flux amounted to 32,300 cubic meters per second. After the interception of the Shuikou Reservoir, the flux at the lower reaches of the river was reduced to 27,900 meters per second, with a flood peak of 11.82 meters, still 2.02 meters above the warning line.
A source said the government at all levels in Guangxi have launched the emergency plan and relocated about 760,000 flood-hit people.
More than 100,000 soldiers and locals have been mobilized along the Xijiang River to fight against the disaster.
The death toll in Guangxi has risen to 38 with 27 still missing.
The Ministry of Finance has already approved 25 million yuan (US$3 million) in financial support to the area.
In Fujian, continuous torrential rain in the north since last Friday has claimed 19 lives with 29 others missing, local flood control and drought relief authorities said yesterday. More than 317,000 people were evacuated.
About 650,000 people in Nanping City alone have been affected by the floods, with 66,667 hectares of farmland destroyed and more than 10,000 houses collapsing in the rainstorm.
In Guangdong, torrential rain and ensuing landslides have claimed at least 48 lives, the provincial flood control office said yesterday.
The office also said that more than 3.06 million people in the province were affected by the floods.