Typhoon lashes China as tens of thousands evacuated

Torrential rain triggered by Typhoon Narra has caused widespread flooding across China's southwestern Guangxi region, forcing tens of thousands of people to relocate as forecasters warn of more downpours in the days ahead.

Some 54,000 people have been relocated because of the flooding, including 8087 who were moved to emergency shelters, state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.

The water levels at 20 monitoring stations on 15 rivers exceeded warning thresholds and aerial footage from CCTV showed brown floodwaters engulfing parts of Chongzuo city, with roads and clusters of low-rise buildings submerged.

Rescuers could be seen wading through knee-deep floodwaters while using rubber boats to evacuate stranded residents from inundated neighbourhoods.

Typhoon Narra has lingered over the Beibu Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Tonkin, in the northwestern part of the South China Sea for several days, bringing heavy rain to Guangxi and the nearby provinces of Hainan and Guangdong.

Heavy rain is expected to persist across parts of southern China through Wednesday, with areas of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian forecast to receive torrential rain, CCTV said.

China postponed the launch of its uncrewed Chang'e-7 lunar mission, which had been expected as early as Monday from Hainan's Wenchang Space Launch Site, saying the spacecraft did not "meet launch conditions"

The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, which has a scientific payload aboard the mission, said the delay was caused by the typhoon.

China Manned Space Agency did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the cause of the delay.