The flooding also destroyed more than 1.1 million homes and damaged 9.72 million hectares of farmland, Shu said during an online interview with the Chinese government web portal www.gov.cn on Wednesday.

China's large rivers, including the Yangtze, the Yellow and the Songhua, were all swollen to dangerous levels after heavy rains, which inundated more than 160 cities across the country, Shu said.

Eight small reservoirs collapsed during the rains, but no casualties were reported, though another 1,000 reservoirs were at risk. Water also overflowed from some small and medium-sized rivers, Shu said.

Local authorities evacuated 10.42 million people from areas at risk of flooding this year, he said.

Shu said President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Hui Liangyu were concerned about the disasters, as well as with the flood control and rescue work.

Premier Wen was inspecting flood control operations in Jilin Province on Tuesday and Wednesday. Vice Premier Hui stressed Tuesday that more efforts should be made to step up late rice planting to guarantee a good harvest in the wake of the floods.

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