Emergency services in Shenzhen, a city of 18 million people in Guangdong province, said they received 88 home emergency calls for heat-related illnesses from Aug. 1 to 6. Two men, one in his 50s and the other in his 60s, later died, according to a statement released late Aug. 7.

Weather forecasters said on August 8 that in the next three days, most areas south of the Yangtze River, where it flows into the sea in Shanghai, are expected to see temperatures of 37 to 39 degrees Celsius, while temperatures in some areas in Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces will exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

After experiencing its hottest July in modern history, China has been hit by an extreme heatwave, particularly in the east and south of the country. Zhejiang's capital Hangzhou recorded a record high of 41.9 degrees Celsius on August 3.

In 2022, China suffered its worst heat wave since 1961. Many parts of the country suffered from a 79-day heat wave from June 13 to August 30.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management said 554 people died or went missing that year "due to natural disasters." Heat-related deaths can be difficult to classify, as heatstroke deaths can be classified differently if the cause of death is heart attack or organ failure.

In a 2023 report published in the medical journal The Lancet, heatwave-related deaths in China were estimated to be 50,900 deaths in 2022, double that of 2021.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)