"Right now, this is the critical period for the growth of winter crops," E Jingping, a top drought relief official, told a news conference.

"If in 15 days there is no precipitation, the situation in the winter wheat zone will be more severe and the next stage for drought-relief operations will be abnormally difficult."

China has been firing thousands of shells and rockets packed with cloud-seeding chemicals in a desperate bid to spark rain across the northern Chinese wheat-growing heartland.

Premier Wen Jiabao said at the weekend that the drought -- which also has hit central and southwestern rice-growing provinces -- risked straining food supplies when people already faced hardships due to the economic crisis.

The drought was affecting 96 percent of the winter wheat-growing region, said E, secretary general of the National Headquarters of Flood-Control and Drought-Relief.

In four provinces, Henan, Anhui, Shandong and Shanxi, authorities have declared the highest-level drought emergency, he said. This was the first time the emergency had ever been raised so high.

He said some regions had not seen rain in more than 100 days.

More than 4.3 million people and 2.1 million head of livestock are short of water, the government has said, with some areas of the nation suffering the worst drought conditions since the early 1950s.

The dry spell highlights one of China's main long-term worries, as water resources are being rapidly depleted due to the country's fast economic growth.

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