BEIJING: More than 9,700 residents were evacuated in southwest China's Chongqing municipality after a fresh bout of rainstorms, local authorities said.

As of Friday evening, rainstorms had battered 41 towns and neighborhoods of Chongqing, with a record-breaking maximum daily downpour of 227 mm recorded in the Wanzhou district, Xinhua news agency quoted the local meteorological service as saying.

More than 300 hectares of crops were affected by the downpours, and dozens of houses were damaged or collapsed, according to the emergency management bureau of Wanzhou District.

The evacuation started in the early hours of Friday, with over 1,700 rescuers mobilised, said the Wanzhou District's headquarters on flood control and drought relief.

The headquarters added that this round of heavy rainfalls ended at around 6 p.m. on Friday.

Water pumping, dredging, and other follow-up work are currently underway.