The third round of heavy rains this month began to pound central China's Hunan Province late Sunday, Hunan's flood-control and drought relief headquarters said.

Downpours hit some townships in north and northwest Hunan, and more rains are expected in the province within this week, the provincial weather bureau said Monday.

During the second round of rains that began on May 12, one person was killed in a landslide triggered by the rains, and about 3.7 million people were affected.

According to the provincial flood-control and drought relief headquarters, 12,700 residential buildings were destroyed and about 141,000 people were evacuated. The direct economic losses were estimated at 1.66 billion yuan (240 million U.S.dollars).

In east China's Shandong Province, a new round of heavy rains was also forecast to fall Monday and Tuesday.

In Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, heavy rains left three people dead and one missing, Guangxi's flood-control and drought relief headquarters said Saturday.

Rainstorms had incurred property losses to about 19,000 people in Guilin after more than 30 houses collapsed, 1,100 hectares of farmland were inundated and many public facilities were damaged.

The economic damage was estimated at 13.2 million yuan (1.9 million U.S. dollars).

In southern province of Guangdong, three rainstorms pelted Guangzhou, the provincial capital, bringing the highest weekly rainfall, of up to 440 mm, in 25 years.

The precipitation equalled a quarter of the city's annual rainfall, according to meteorological statistics, said Lin Liangxun, Guangdong's chief weather forecaster.

Guangdong has reported one person missing and more than 35,000 people affected by the heavy rains.