Below is an article published by Prensa Latina:

Over three million people face a drinking water shortage, mainly in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan and the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, due to a lack of rains since last fall.

In addition, 2.53 million domestic animals are affected by water shortages, according to regional authorities.

Drought has also affected 1.2 million hectares of farmland, mostly in the provinces of Gansu (west), Hebei (north) and Yunnan.

Authorities' failure to store water appropriately in some parts of the country also had a negative effect on the situation, according to the State Office for Flood Control and Drought Relief.

The government has channeled water from reservoirs, transferred water from other areas and dug more wells to meet basic demands for water, the office said.

However, the farmland and people affected by the drought are well below the average in comparison to previous years, the office noted.