Authorities in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced Wednesday the addition of 20 million yuan (2.94 million U.S. dollars) to a fund financing efforts to fight drought as hot, dry weather maintains its grip on the region.

The Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in Guangxi simultaneously launched a drought control response mechanism which requires local departments such as weather, water resources and power supply to cooperate closely to guarantee success of the efforts to fight drought.

According to the local weather department, Guangxi suffered its hottest weather in 58 years from Aug.1-30, with the temperature averaging 28.9 degrees Celsius.

The south Chinese region has had 1,152 mm of rainfall in the past eight months, a drop of 12.7 percent from the average level for the same period in normal years. It had rainfall of only 91 mm last month, down 57 percent from the average level for the same month in normal years.

The Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in Guangxi said 638,500 people, plus 299,200 livestock had been suffering from water shortages.

And 280,850 hectares of cropland affected because of hot weather and less rain, included 598 hectares of crops that died in the arid conditions.

The regional weather service's forecast Monday said Guangxi's drought would continue during the coming week.

Guangxi has already made great efforts in drought control. More than 53.41 million yuan (about 7.86 million U.S. dollars) has been set aside so far.

The region's department of water resources has dispatched five working groups to areas such as Laibin, Chongzuo, Wuzhou, Hezhou, Hechi, all in Guangxi, to supervise or guide drought control efforts.

Zhong Xiangting, the department's chief, said the region had since late August mobilized more than 1.71 million people to fight drought, which has helped irrigate 148,470 hectares of crops and temporarily solve water shortages faced by 390,280 people and 193,110 livestock.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2009)