BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has dispatched a team to Shanxi province to assess the drought situation and assign disaster relief.

The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs began a level-four emergency response on Monday after reports of severe drought in central and northern parts of the province since June, said a statement.

The drought has affected more than 6 million people in 69 counties, with more than 1.63 million people needing help, the statement said. Nearly 1.27 million hectares of crops have been impacted, with 224,000 hectares having no harvest at all. Direct economic losses are estimated at more than 6.7 billion yuan (about 1.06 billion U.S. dollars).