NANCHANG - Hailstorms have battered parts of eastern and southwestern China, leaving three people dead and 25 others injured, local authorities said Wednesday.

In East China's Jiangxi province, hailstorms struck some areas from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, resulting in the deaths of three people and affecting the livelihood of 170,000 rural residents, a spokesman with the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Civil Affairs said.

Storms have also forced the evacuation of more than 700 people, destroyed about 2,700 hectares of crops and damaged more than 900 houses, the spokesman added.

In southwestern Guizhou province, hailstorms hit 47 villages in Taijiang county Tuesday night, leaving 25 residents injured, including two severely injured, a county government spokesman said.

The hailstones were as large as 3.5 cm in diameter and weighed 18 grams on average, the spokesman said.

Power supplies and telecommunications networks have also been disrupted, he said.

Local authorities have dispatched teams to oversee relief operations in those areas, according to the spokesman.