About 4 million people are fighting a lasting drought that has been affecting almost 2 million people and 65 percent of the farmland in northeast China's Liaoning and Jilin provinces for nearly a month.

In Liaoning, more than 1.6 million people and 733,700 head of livestock are suffering from drinking water shortage, 159 reservoirs have dried up, and 44,507 wells have experienced insufficient water output, according to statistics from the Liaoning Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

The drought, the worst to hit Liaoning since records began in 1951, has affected more than 2 million hectares of farmland, or 65 percent of the province's total, statistics show.

More than 2 million people have been mobilized to combat the drought in the province.

In Jilin, 333,500 people and 351,500 head of livestock are facing water shortage, and the drought has also affected nearly 2.7 million hectares of farmland, 65 percent of the province's total, according to statistics from the Jilin Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Jilin has spent nearly 300 million yuan (US$37.5 million) for disaster relief and dispatched about 2 million people to combat the drought.

High temperatures and inadequate rainfall since the beginning of June are said to be the cause of the drought.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007)