Heilongjiang suffers severe drought

HARBIN - The northeastern province of Heilongjiang is experiencing a severe drought, authorities said at an anti-drought meeting Wednesday.

More than 15 million mu (1 million hectares) of crop fields have been affected by drought in the province, which produces about 10 percent of China's grain, according to the meeting.

Most of the province has experienced exceptionally low rainfall and high temperature since July. In the first half of August, the average temperature reached 23.1 degrees Celcius, 1.7 degrees higher than the average at the same time in previous years.

To cope with the severe drought, the province has allocated 260 million yuan ($39 million) and mobilized 417,000 people for drought relief, with a total of 4,300 new wells being dug.

Meteorological authorities predict that in the following 10 days there will be little rain in the west of the province, where the drought is the severest.