Serious drought persists in the Yangtze region but weather forecasts predict medium to heavy rainfall between 3 and 7 June in the middle and lower reaches of the river. This will help alleviate the current drought conditions but will not mark an end to the problem.

A spokesman for the China Weather Forecast Bureau warned on 31 May that heavy rainfall may cause landslides in some areas. He explained that the recent drought was caused by strong winds from the north and relatively inactive warm winds from the south which were unable to meet in the Yangtze area to create rain.

The drought has affected 6.96m hectares of farmland in the Yangtze River region, or more than 5 per cent of the national farmland total, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. The problem is most serious in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan, according to the latest government statistics.