Affected by persistent heavy rains, major flooding has been observed in several tributaries connected to China's two largest freshwater lakes, Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ministry on Friday raised emergency responses to level III for floods in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces and immediately dispatched four additional task teams to the front lines to provide guidance for flood relief.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency-response system, with Level I being the most severe response.