NANNING, July 13, 2008 -- Torrential rain has been slamming south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since Friday, leaving a three-year-old girl dead and more than 364,700 people affected.

The rain demolished 500 rooms and destroyed crops on 18,812 hectares in the cities of Beihai, Hechi and Laibin, causing a direct economic loss of 85.86 million yuan (12.3 million U.S. dollars), said a spokesman for the regional flood control headquarters.

The rain may also lead to a crop failure of about 14,170 tonnes of grain, the spokesman said.