At least seven people died and one went missing on Thursday after heavy rainfall triggered landslides in Beiliu, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to media reports.

At least four villages have been hit by severe mudslides in 486 sites. Rescue operations are underway.

Heavy rainfall has recently triggered severe flooding and landslides in southern China, affecting people's lives and harming the economy.

From June 1 to 6, Central China's Hunan Province experienced the longest and heaviest rainfall this year, damaging a large amount of industrial and agricultural infrastructure, triggering landslides and collapse of houses. As of Wednesday, more than 1.79 million people in the province were affected by the disaster, with 10 dead, 3 missing, and direct economic losses that have reached over 4 billion yuan ($609 million), according to media reports.

According to the weather forecast by the China Meteorological Administration on Thursday, southern regions, including East China's Fujian Province, most parts of South China's Guangdong Province and Southwest China's Guizhou Province, will still see heavy rains from Thursday to Friday.

Heavy rainfall continues to affect the southern part of China and it is necessary to prevent secondary disasters such as mountain floods and landslides, the China Meteorological Administration said in a report on June 4.

The increasing heat and moist air flow from the southwest, and the frequent movement of cold air toward the south from the north have combined together to cause continuous heavy rainfall in the southern region, Zhang Fanghua, chief forecaster at the Central Meteorological Observatory, told media.