Over 27,000 residents of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been affected by extensive heavy rains that began on Sunday, the regional emergency management department said on Wednesday.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, rainfall has caused flooding in 22 counties across nine cities in the region, affecting more than 27,000 people.

The affected crop area has totaled 2,392 hectares, leading to direct economic losses of 104 million yuan (about 15.4 million U.S. dollars).

From 12 p.m. on Wednesday, the regional flood control and drought relief headquarters has upgraded its emergency response from Level IV to Level III, and has sent working groups to the cities to conduct flood control and relief work.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.