More than 200 dead or missing in China rain, landslides

Beijing: Torrential rain and landslides in China have left more than 200 people dead or missing in recent days, state media and the government said as the country braced for approaching Typhoon Soulik.

Landslides and floods in Sichuan province in the southwest had killed 31 people by Thursday, according to data from the ministry of civil affairs, with 166 more missing. More than two million people had been affected in the region, it added.

Another 13 people had died, with four missing, since Sunday in Yan'an in the northwest, where local authorities warned of a high risk of flooding and landslides, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Official figures also showed deaths in several other parts of the country, from the central provinces of Henan and Hubei to the northern region of Ningxia.

The government raised the flood alert status on the Yangtze river, warning of potential downpours and windstorms in the waterway's middle and lower reaches Saturday as Typhoon Soulik moves towards the Chinese coast, reported news portal people.com.cn.

President Xi Jinping has called on the authorities to "spare no efforts" in searching for people left missing in the landslides, according to a statement sent by the General Office of the Communist Party of China to Xinhua.