Chinese govt increases funding for fighting flooding

China's central government has been putting more funding toward fighting flooding this year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Thursday.

It has set aside 507 million yuan (82.04 million US dollars) for emergency response measures for flooding and water conservancy repair projects, an MOF statement said.

The government has also allocated 170 million yuan in subsidies to Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou and Anhui, according to a separate MOF statement issued Thursday.

Torrential rain has battered these areas, resulting in relatively serious damage, the statement said.

Five people were killed when rain triggered a building collapse in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region over the weekend, the regional civil affairs department said on May 27.

Four people were killed in a rainstorm in south China's Guangdong Province, local flood control authorities reported on May 23.

A previous round of rain and hailstorms that swept south China from May 14-16 had left 33 people dead and 12 missing, official figures show.