China's Ministry of Land and Resources has launched an inspection campaign to pinpoint the potential risks in places where the public gathers in an effort to prevent loss of life and property damage, Minister Xu Shaoshi said Thursday.

Extreme weather is "exceptionally frequent" in China, which makes the problem of disasters quite severe, Xu said at a conference.

He said the campaign, which would last more than three months running through the end of September, would study locations where people gather, including cities, the countryside, hospitals, schools and markets, as well as major railways, roads and major construction projects in 31 provinces, regions and municipalities.

Torrential rains across the southern regions of China since June 13 have killed 211 people and left 119 more missing as of Wednesday, and more than 2.4 million people have been evacuated, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.