Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged government agencies to place "top priority" on anti-drought efforts during his tour in the drought-hit regions in Liaoning, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Jilin on Monday and Tuesday.

Hui urged officials and departments to spare no effort to guarantee water supply for residents. He asked local governments to allocate relief funds at the earliest possible time, ensure adequate supply of clean water and relief food to maintain stability in the disaster-hit regions.

Local governments were also urged to expand irrigation by speeding up construction of reservoirs and properly conducting artificial precipitation as "the drought took place in the major grain production bases amid the key maturity period for crops, which will greatly affect agriculture production".

A severe drought has damaged 170 million mu (11.33 million hectares) of crops in China as of Monday, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Drought quickly expanded through northern and northeastern China since late July, as a result of insufficient rainfall and continued high temperatures.

Drought-hit regions in northern China are expected to receive moderate and heavy rains starting from Wednesday, forecasted the National Meteorological Center Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2009)