Zhongzhouwei dike of Poyang county burst its banks and more than 8,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas, according to the Bureau of Emergency Management of Jiangxi province.

On Thursday, the water level at the dike reached 23.39 meters, 3.89 meters above the warning level, and in nearby Guxiandu town the level was 23.43 meters, 0.25 meter higher than the record in 1998, when the country suffered a catastrophic flood.

Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province, the largest freshwater lake in China and a major river basin of the Yangtze River, is historically a region of significant floods.

As the rainy season continues, southern parts of China have suffered long-lasting, wide-ranging rains. Some areas had only brief relief from sustained rainfall, according to the National Meteorological Center.