One person was rescued and seven others were missing after a fishing boat sank on Wednesday off the coast of south China's Guangdong Province, local officials said.

The boat sank at about 7 a.m. amid strong winds and high waves in the sea area of Naozhou in Zhanjiang.

The eight fishers aboard jumped into the sea. One struggled and drifted for more than three hours before he was rescued by a passing cargo ship.

He said the boat had sunk within 20 minutes.

A helicopter was dispatched at 12:20 p.m. to search the sea area where the accident happened. It returned two hours later without finding any survivors, Guangzhou-based South China Sea Salvation Bureau officials said.

They said survival chances for the missing were slim because of the plummeting temperature and rough seas.

The rescue operation was continuing.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2008)