China's north-east corn area hit by drought

China's north-east province of Liaoning, one of the country's leading corn-producing areas, has been hit by its worst drought in 30 years, limiting drinking water supplies for more than one million people, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
Local government has dispatched more than 500,000 people to dig wells and transport water to the worst hit areas in the north-west and south, Xinhua said. High temperatures and inadequate rainfall this month have caused a water shortage affecting 1.27 million people and 473,800 animals, the report said, citing officials in the provincial flood prevention and drought control headquarters. Some 1.4 million hectares of crops, mainly corn and rice paddy, have also been damaged, it said.