The administration added that another 393 Chinese cities and counties are expected to experience heatwaves of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and higher.
The latest heatwave, defined as heatwaves lasting three days or more, is the second this month. Daily average temperatures are the highest since 1961, and on Sunday, 13 national weather stations in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces hit or surpassed local temperature records.
China has a four-level weather warning system in place, with red warnings indicating temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or higher, orange warnings of 35 degrees Celsius or higher, followed by yellow and blue.
As of Monday, 67 cities have declared a red alert. In Guangzhou, the local meteorological bureau expects the hot weather to last 23 days, the longest heatwave in a city in southern China since 1951.
Chen Chunyan, chief expert at the Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, told state media on Sunday that the prolonged heatwave has accelerated the melting of glaciers in mountain ranges bordering the region.
Combined with heatwaves, extreme weather could have a severe economic impact on China.
And Chen said if the heat wave in Xinjiang continues, it could also hurt cotton production, further hitting China’s economy as it continues to grapple with the slowdown caused by the pandemic.
China is the world’s second largest cotton producer and 85% of the cotton produced in China comes from Xinjiang.
CNN’s Nectar Gang and Yun Xiong contributed to the report.
