At least 51 people were confirmed dead and 30 missing as of Thursday in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in rain-triggered landslides and floods since May 31, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

The continuous downpour has affected nearly 3 million people in the region, with direct economic losses exceeding 120 million yuan ($18 million), the report said.

More than 8,000 buildings had collapsed and nearly 150,000 people had been displaced in the province's nine cities and 40 counties as of 4 pm on Thursday, according to figures from the Guangxi department of civil affairs.

About 1,610 sq km of crops have also been damaged, causing more than 70 million yuan in direct economic losses.

The Guangxi civil affairs department and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have jointly begun an emergency response plan to help settle victims.

In the city of Laibin, heavy rain caused a field of about 0.6 sq km to sink, the China News Service said on Friday.

Four huge pits, each 20 to 30 meters deep and more than 70 meters wide, were left in the ground, according to the portal.

All the 238 residents in the village were evacuated to a school 2 km away, where local authorities had set up 32 tents, 150 straw mats and 150 quilts.

The Central Meteorological Station on Friday forecast that the current heavy rain in Guangxi and some other southern provinces will wane in the coming days, but warned of torrential rains in many other provinces of the country including Qinghai, Xinjiang, Hebei and Henan.

The station forecast hailstorms in Yunnan, Hainan and Shanxi provinces.

Faced with an increasing number of natural disasters this year, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued a directive on Thursday, urging local governments to strengthen measures on disaster relief.

"The situation this year is grave. Governments on different levels should do a better job to minimize the number casualties and economic losses," said the directive.

Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu on Friday said more work was needed to stop the Huaihe River from flooding. Addressing a meeting held by the State Council for flood prevention, Hui said effective flood control and disaster reduction systems were urgently needed in the Huaihe River valley.

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