Only 17 millimetres (less than an inch) of rain had fallen in the capital in the past four months, down 63 percent on the same period last year.

Xinhua said drought in the north, northeast and southwestern regions was affecting 16.3 million hectares (41 million acres) of farm land and threatening supplies of drinking water to more than 14 million people and 11.55 million livestock.

Reservoirs serving Beijing, host city for the 2008 Olympics, are drying up because of the long drought.

The amount of affected farmland was 36.3 percent more than the average annual area, Xinhua quoted Zhang Zhitong, an environmental official, as saying.

Floods have killed 10 people and affected about 4.5 million in central, eastern and southern regions since mid-April, with direct economic losses totalling more than 2.637 billion yuan (US$330 million).

Worse may be to come.

China's summer could be hotter and stormier than normal and the country could be hit by up to nine typhoons from June, state media said on Wednesday, citing the country's top meteorologists.

"From now on, local authorities should get ready for bad weather, particularly floods resulting from torrential rains, and persistent drought in other areas," the People's Daily newspaper quoted Qin Dahe, director of the China Meteorological Administration, as saying.

A warm summer could strain the electricity grid and boost demand for diesel to drive individual generators, or extra electricity from fuel-oil powered stations, although officials expect supply shortfalls to be far less than in recent years.