BEIJING - Heavy rain and floods have killed at least six people in southern Chinese mainland and Taiwan, brought down power lines, swamped schools and farmland and forced 158,000 people to leave their homes, media said on Friday.

Storms struck across south China this week, with heavy rain flooding large swathes of the provinces of Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Fujian.

Three people were killed in Hunan where more than 1.33 million people were affected, including 75,000 who "had difficulty in getting drinking water", Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Civil Affairs as saying.

In Keelung, a city in the north of the offshore island of Taiwan, rockslides caused by steady rain killed three people on Friday, including a 4-year-old, and injured four, the city news office said.

Rains damaged more than 57,000 hectares (220 sq miles) of farmland in Hunan and thousands of huts and simple homes collapsed or were damaged. Power lines were brought down and roads blocked.

Fujian has been hit by heavy rains and landslides since early this week, Xinhua news agency said. Two people were reported missing and nearly 400 houses had collapsed.

Pictures showed Lianzhou, in Guangdong, inundated, with apartment blocks stranded in swirling brown water.

China is hit by frequent floods and drought, often both at the same time in different parts. The typhoon season is just getting under way in the south.