Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Wednesday called for more efforts in fighting floods, as many areas in China enter their flood season and southern China grapples with the effects of heavy rainstorms.

Relevant departments must pay high attention and make all-out efforts to fight floods to ensure people's work and life are not affected, Hui said at a national tele-conference on fighting floods and droughts.

China has witnessed abnormal weather conditions this year, with various weather-triggered disasters, according to the meeting. Southern China has experienced heavy rainstorms which triggered huge casualties and economic losses.

Droughts in southwestern China have broken, but some residents and livestock in the seriously-hit areas still have difficulty accessing potable water, according to the meeting.

The meeting required emergency programs be launched timely in times of emergency and more measures be taken to guard against floods and mud-rock-flow landslides.

The meeting also required more patrols of dams or reservoirs be made.

The rainstorms that have pounded southern China since early May had by Wednesday left 86 people dead and 16 missing, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.