Ravaged by droughts and high temperatures since July, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River recorded all-time low water levels on Wednesday.

With little rainfall filling its upper reaches, water levels in the Jiangxi Province section of the Yangtze fell to 11.81 meters, breaking the previous record of 12.01 meters over the same period in 1972, said Hu Jin, a worker with the Jiujiang Hydrologic Station in Jiangxi.

Water levels are the lowest since hydrologic records were made for this section in 1885, Hu added.

They have fallen by an average of 0.1 meter per day since late July.

But river navigation has not so far been affected in the section.

By contrast, routes through Taipingkou in Shashi City in central China's Hubei Province are temporarily suspended from 8 AM to 12 AM every day for dredging work, according to the Yangtze River Waterway Bureau.

In related news, the worst drought in 50 years hit southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province this summer, leaving millions of people short of drinking water and affecting hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2006)