South and east China will continue to swelter in hot weather for the next two days with temperatures of 35 to 38 degrees centigrade, according to a source with the Central Meteorological Station on Sunday.

The region along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest river, is likely to report average daily temperatures rising to 39 to 41 degrees, said Yang Keming, a senior engineer with the station.

The lower reaches of the Yangtze River and south China have reported high temperatures in the past two days.

Shanghai municipality in east China recorded a 60-year high of 39.6 degrees on Friday while most parts of east China's Zhejiang Province reported that local temperatures hit 40 degrees.

Central China's Henan Province recorded 38 degrees in the past two days, whereas and east China's Jiangxi and Fujian provinces also sweated through record high temperatures.

Yang attributed the continuing hot weather to the impact of subtropical high pressure.

The heat wave has resulted in severe drought in east China's Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces and central-south China's Hunan Province.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2003)