China issues yellow alert for drought

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Thursday issued a yellow alert for drought as scorching heatwaves sweep through vast parts of the country.

Since the beginning of July, the south, central and southwest regions of China have experienced droughts as a result of low precipitation and high temperatures, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The center observed that droughts above moderate level now linger in some areas of Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan and Tibet.

Dry weather will continue in the aforementioned regions in the following three days, it said.

The observatory advised these regions to keep a close eye on meteorological changes and produce artificial rainfall when necessary. It also warned of the risks of wildfires.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.