Rescuers transfer people at Zhaojia Village of Quanzhou County in Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 9, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Zichuang)

NANNING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- More than 340,000 people have been affected by downpours and floods in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region over the past week, local authorities said Monday.

The regional emergency management department said rainstorms starting from June 4 have caused flooding in many parts of Guangxi.

To date, more than 16,000 people have been relocated. The rainstorms and floods damaged nearly 20,000 hectares of crops and collapsed 734 houses in Guangxi.

The direct economic loss reached about 534 million yuan (77.3 million U.S. dollars).

The regional meteorological bureau issued a yellow alert at 10:30 a.m. Monday, forecasting heavy rain to persist for the following 24 hours.