BEIJING - Floods and landslides caused by heavy rains have led to nine deaths and forced more than 33,000 people to relocate as of Thursday morning.

Since Monday, rainstorms have been battering the provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, affecting over 330,000 people, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Seven deaths were reported in Jiangxi and two in Fujian.

In Jiangxi, 28,000 have been relocated and over 3,200 are in urgent need of basic supplies. More than 300 houses were destroyed and 700 hectares of crops were destroyed.

Fujian suffered the highest direct economic loss of 140 million yuan (22.8 million U.S. dollars), followed by Jiangxi with 130 million yuan.

The ministry put the total economic loss so far at nearly 400 million yuan.