Central authorities have dispatched disaster survey and relief teams to rainstorm-hit regions in north China's Shanxi Province and northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

Heavy rain has caused 24 deaths, left four people missing and affected more than 620,000 others in Shaanxi, figures from the provincial civil affairs department showed.

Rain-triggered disasters have also caused 1.63 billion yuan (265.8 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses, according to the figures.

In neighboring Shanxi, torrential rain had killed four people and affected 840,000 others as of 8 p.m. Saturday, with another 28,000 evacuated, according to the province's civil affairs department.

Both provincial governments have sent relief funds and supplies to disaster-hit areas. Endi