Twelve of the 14 cities in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are affected by drought, the regional flood-control and drought relief authority announced Monday.

Children carry drums of water home from a local water tank. Twelve of the 14 cities in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are affected by drought, the regional flood-control and drought relief authority announced Monday.

The drought had affected 522,967 hectares of farm land by March 11 and 1.76 million people were denied easy access to drinking water, 232,100 people more than seven days earlier, said a statement from the authority.

About 870,900 head of livestock were also suffering a shortage of drinking water.

Local meteorologists forecast that in most of Guangxi, temperatures would be 0.1 to 1 degree Celsius higher than average in March and April, and precipitation would be 20 percent less.

The authority predicted the drought would worsen, as the peak season for water consumption in spring ploughing would begin soon.