Southern China will have more rain than usual over the next 10 days, the China Meteorological Administration forecast on Wednesday.

Heavy rain was likely to hit parts of the areas that lie south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River from April 11 to 16, it said. Some regions would experience the heaviest rain so far this year.

Vice-Minister of Water Resources E Jingping urged meteorological and water resources departments across the country to closely monitor the situation and update forecasts in a timely manner.

Light rain in parts of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang was expected to ease the persistent drought in northern China. The southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou would also get light or moderate rain.

With little precipitation, however, a forest fire has continued to burn out of control in Shangrila, southwestern Yunnan Province. More than 1,000 people have been fighting the blaze, which broke out on Sunday in a heavily forested area.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2008)