A severe drought has reduced water levels along the middle section of China's Yangtze River to a near record low. The drought has plagued provinces along the river's banks.

 

During the first four months of the year, the Yangtze River basin has received 40 percent less rainfall compared to the average over the last 50 years.

In Central China's Hubei Province, water in nearly fourteen-hundred reservoirs has dropped below the allowable discharge level for irrigation and other uses.

The Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said the drought has affected about six million hectares of arable land, mainly in the provinces of Hubei,

Hunan and Gansu. On Monday, China's meteorological authority said that a storm front moving eastward, is expected to bring rain to much of the country, including drought hit areas, over the next 10 days.