Heavy rain on Thursday and early Friday eased the drought in most parts of east China's Shandong Province, which has been badly affected by droughts over the past five consecutive years.

Meteorologists with Shandong Provincial Observatory said Friday nearly 100 of the 121 rainfall monitoring stations across the province reported heavy rain.

Thunderstorms hit Jinan, capital of the province, which the experts said was unusual in spring.

A maximum rainfall of 83 mm was recorded in the Tai'an area, according to the experts.

The province has been hit hard by droughts since 1998, causing crop failures and shortages of drinking water for some one million farmers.

Before the rainfall, about one million hectares of crops were affected by the drought and over 50 major industrial firms were forced to cut or stop production due to water shortages.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2003)