Torrential rains and floods, the worst in a decade, have claimed the lives of 701 people and left 347 missing in China since the beginning of the year, according to government figures Wednesday.

Rescurers are searching for survivors in Ankang in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

 

Floods had hit 27 provinces and municipalities, affecting 110 million people and 8.06 million people had been relocated, figures from the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Civil Affairs show.

They also affected more than 7 million hectares of farmland and destroyed 645,000 houses.

Direct economic losses had reached 142.2 billion yuan (20.88 billion U.S. dollars).

Since the beginning of April, when the flood season started, the levels of more than 230 rivers had passed the danger mark. Some areas along the Yangtze River even experienced the worst flooding in 30 years.

Liu Ning, vice minister of Water Resources and secretary general of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said at a press conference Wednesday that the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and a series of structures built after 1998, when worst flood in half a century hit south China, had been crucial in controlling the floods.