President Hu Jintao gave the order after the Civil Affairs Ministry announced 567 people had died and 165 were missing in flooding this year with economic losses estimated at 22.9 billion yuan (2.76 billion dollars).

"Faced with a serious fight against floods ... we must quickly step up efforts at organising construction and inspections of major dykes, reservoirs and reserve flood areas," Hu told a meeting on flood prevention and control, according to Saturday's People's Daily newspaper.

"We must guarantee the safety of all major transport routes and mid-size and big cities.

"The life of the people must be the number one priority, people in endangered areas must be immediately evacuated and their living arrangements must be appropriately met."

Although relentless rains in southern parts of the country were expected to ease, water levels on the Pearl river remained at record highs as they surged toward the regional capital of Guangzhou, officials said.

Huang Huahua, governor of the booming industrial Guangdong province, urged the government to fast-track relief efforts throughout the province, including the provincial capital, which was experiencing the worst rains in 90 years.

"July and August is the main flooding season in China, all major rivers and waterways may experience big floods at any time," Chen Jianlong, spokesman of the state anti-flood headquarters said in a daily briefing.

"The damages caused by flooding along the Pearl River and the Min River are still serious.

"The number of collapsed homes is very big and damage to farm lands, water resources, roads, railways and other infrastructure is very serious."

More than 44 million people have been affected by flooding in China this year, leading to the emergency evacuation of some 2.45 million, the civil affairs ministry said.