The water flow in the Three Gorges Reservoir reached 50,000 cubic meters per second at 6 pm on Thursday, taking the water level in the reservoir to 161.1 meters, Xinhua news agency reported.

In recent weeks, southern areas of China have been hit by persistent heavy rainfall. The ministry has issued emergency responses to floods in several provinces, and sent five task forces to Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui to provide guidance on flood relief.

The ministry also urged efforts to strengthen flood monitoring and early warning, increase patrolling on embankments and shift people living in flood-prone areas to safer places.