More than 6 million people in southwest China's Yunnan Province were facing water shortages as the lingering drought continued to worsen, provincial government official said Wednesday.

"The number of people affected is expected to hit 10 million by May," said Qin Guangrong, governor of Yunnan Province.

The drought has also affected 31.48 million mu (about 2.1 million hectares) of crops, and threatened the water supply for more than 3.6 million livestock.

The province will make concerted efforts to ensure adequate water supply, Qin said.

The first team of 70 people organized by the provincial bureau of land and resources was sent Wednesday morning to pump underground water to the drought affected areas.

"Yunnan has abundant underground water resources, most of which meet the drinking water standards," said He Zixing, head of Yunnan Provincial Land and Resources Bureau.

Yunnan is experiencing the worst drought in six decades, which started last fall. So far direct economic losses were estimated at more than 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion).

Local authorities in Yunnan's neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have raised drought response status to level 3 as drought there also continued to worsen.

The drought has inflicted a direct economic loss of 1.5 billion yuan ($220 million) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the regional civil affairs bureau said Wednesday.

It has left 1.1 million people in Guangxi with drinking water shortages, and damaged 189,190 hectares of crops and destroyed further 31,030 hectares.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2010)