A drought that has lingered since June has affected 27.11 million people living in 11 provincial-level areas across China, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA).

The drought has caused drinking water shortages for 5.1 million local residents and incurred direct economic losses of 12.21 billion yuan ($1.99 billion), the ministry said in a report.

The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the MCA initiated an emergency response to the drought in Hunan and Guizhou provinces on Thursday, sending work teams to those areas to aid in disaster relief.

Parts of the provinces have been suffering from a severe drought since July, with sustained high temperatures.

Of those affected people, 21.2 million are living in Hunan and Guizhou provinces and 2.42 million people in the two provinces have had their livelihoods affected and require government assistance, according to MCA figures.

The drought has also left 1.56 million livestock short of drinking water in the country while affected about 2.6 million hectares of crops nationwide, according to the report.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2013)