Flooding in the north-east which left 54 people dead was described as "the worst in decades" by state news agency Xinhua, while another 20 people died in the southern province of Guangdong as a result of the weather, the ministry of civil affairs said.

A further seven people were missing in Guangdong, where 510,000 were evacuated because of the rain, the ministry said.

Transport links were severely crippled, affecting tens of thousands of travellers.

Some services from Guangzhou railway station, Guangdong's most important transport hub, were suspended due to rain and landslides.

State media said 80,000 passengers were stranded over the weekend because of the disruption.

Services were beginning to return to normal from Monday, the station said in a statement posted on its website.