NANCHANG - Continuous torrential rain in east China's Jiangxi Province has left four people dead, it was announced on Wednesday.

By 9 am Wednesday, 18,000 residents who were threatened by floods had been relocated, according to a statement issued by the provincial civil affairs department.

Torrential rain has disrupted life for 543,000 residents in 34 counties, districts and cities of the province, and damaged 33,900 hectares of crops, the statement said.

More than 5,700 houses have been toppled, with another 4,200 seriously damaged, it added.

The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Monday initiated an emergency response to battle the rain-triggered disaster.

Storms have affected large parts of southern China, bringing landslides.

In Shaoguan city of Guangdong Province, which borders Jiangxi, one person was killed and another two were missing after rain-triggered landslides.

Landslides also disrupted traffic on a section of an international highway in Tibet Autonomous Region, and in Shennongjia, a forestry resort in central China's Hubei Province, although the flow of vehicles had resumed on Wednesday.