Farms in northern China suffer from drought

About 200,000 people and 760,000 cattle do not have access to sufficient water, Xinhua said, citing the Ministry of Water Resources.

The affected areas are mainly the northwestern region of Inner Mongolia, known for its sheep and cattle foraging pastures , as well as northern Hebei and northeastern Liaoning, important maize and dairy farming areas.

Temperatures in China's capital Beijing topped 40 degrees Celsius (104F) on Saturday. Some areas in nearby Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Inner Mongolia and Tianjin have raised their hot weather warning level or kept it at "red", the highest in China's four-level warning system.

Southwestern Yunnan, which has already experienced several months of drought since last year, is also facing water shortages, according to a Xinhua report.

High temperatures eased on Sunday but are expected to return on Tuesday, possibly rising above 40 degrees Celsius again in Beijing, Tianjin and southern Hebei, state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.

Parts of eastern Jilin province and eastern Liaoning province, the northeastern corn-growing provinces, are expected to experience heavy rainfall from Monday, CCTV added.

Meanwhile, heavy rains hit many areas in the south of the country over the weekend, including southern Guangdong, eastern Zhejiang and Shanghai, causing 15 rivers to flood, Xinhua said.