BEIJING - China has relocated 40,800 residents in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, as the year's first flood peak hit the middle reaches of the Yellow River, flood control authorities said Saturday.

Caused by recent torrential rains, water levels rose quickly on both the trunk stream and tributaries of the Yellow River's middle reaches, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

The flux of a flood peak at the Wubu Hydrologic Station in Wubu county of Shaanxi's city of Yulin reached 10,600 cubic meters per second at 1 pm Friday, marking the highest level since 1989, the headquarters said.

The flood waters passed the downstream Longmen Hydrologic Station at 7,620 cubic meters per second at 7 am Saturday, the highest level since 1996, it said.

The headquarters said flood waters have inundated beach areas and low-lying lands as well as some water control and diversion projects, it said.

The headquarters said all residents of beach areas threatened by flooding have been relocated and the two affected provinces have dispatched personnel to check dams and increase flood-control materials.