China’s largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, enters earliest dry season since 1951. (Photo/China News Service)

The water level of China’s largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, continues to fall as heatwaves hit southern China.

At Hukou hydrological station on the Yangtze River and Xingzi hydrological station of Poyang Lake, water levels receded to 10.18 and 10.29 meters separately on Wednesday, 6.42 meters and 6.37 meters lower than the average in recent years.

The water area of Poyang Lake in Tongjiang County, Jiangxi, is only 803 square kilometers, 2,097 square kilometers less than that of the same period last year, and nearly 3,000 square kilometers less compared to the 3,800 square kilometers in the wet season.

It has also set a record for the earliest dry season since 1951.

Weather forecasts say the average rainfall in the province in August is about 120 to 140 millimeters, much less than that of previous years, aggravating the drought in some areas.