(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)

Torrential rains that triggered floods have affected more than 7.4 million people across seven provinces in southwest, central and eastern China, state broadcaster CCTV said on Wednesday (July 18).

It reported that nearly 3,000 people in the eastern province of Jiangxi had to be evacuated after their homes were inundated by flood waters.

Jiangxi province's worst-hit area, Nanfeng County, saw 358 millimetres (14 inches) of rain fall from morning till noon on Tuesday (July 17).

CCTV also said that firefighters rescued about 40 people and 200 pigs trapped by floodwaters in the city of Yichun in the province.

In Guizhou province, southwest China, firefighters rescued 14 people in the city of Tongren, after their homes were submerged.

Police and military personnel helped evacuate about 3,000 people from Guizhou's Pingtang county, CCTV reported.

Nearly 10,000 people in the city of Huaihua in central Hunan province were moved to drier ground after flood waters swelled to 1.5 metres (5 feet) deep.

China's Central Meteorological Centre said rains in the southern regions would gradually ease over the next three days.