WUHAN -- Drought and flooding in the vast Yangtze River Valley cost China more than 18 billion yuan (about US$2.25 billion) in economic losses last year.

Cai Qihua, director of the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee, said serious and prolonged drought in areas along the upper reaches of the Yangtze -- such as Sichuan and Chongqing -- affected 19 million residents and 17 million heads of livestock.

The country lost 22 million tons of grain in those areas because of searing temperatures and sustained drought, Cai said.

Regions on the middle reaches of the Yangtze -- where typhoon-driven rains struck -- experienced unprecedented flooding.

The Yangtze River Water Resources Committee had cooperated with areas affected to find ways to deal with the record low water level in the mainstream of the mighty river and flooding in parts of the valley, said the official.

Manpower and equipment were mobilized to combat the drought, which saved some cash crops.

The 6,300-km-long Yangtze River originates in the Tanggula Range on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and passes through Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai before emptying into the East China Sea.

The Yangtze River Valley covers an area of 1.81 million sq km, about one fifth of China's landmass.