At least 75 people in northern China have died or gone missing since Monday in some of the worst flooding in years, the government said Thursday.

Tourists stand in front of the Tiananmen Gate and a giant portrait of Chinese late Chairman Mao Zedong on a day of heavy rain in Beijing on Wednesday. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

The figures released by the Civil Affairs Ministry come amid continuing heavy downpours that have caused havoc across usually dry regions, including the capital Beijing. Already, 576 people have been recorded as dead or missing nationwide in the first half of the year.

Taxis were among the many affected by heavy rainfall in Beijing on Wednesday. Beijing's main international airport saw more than 200 flight cancellations, and a handful of subway stations were also closed. High-speed rail services were delayed as well. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

Beijing has been hit by constant rain since Tuesday that has forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and trains and flooded city streets. The rain has also threatened embankments along rivers in central China, with authorities mobilizing troops and heavy equipment to fill the gaps.

A food deliveryman rides through a flooded street in Beijing on Wednesday. The city's hot summers often see a lot of rain. Over 35 people were killed in 2012 due to excessive rainfall. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from flood-hit areas, and direct economic losses have risen into the hundreds of millions of dollars. President Xi Jinping on Wednesday warned the country to be prepared for more hardship to come and said officials found negligent in their duties would be severely punished.

Armed police officers and fire workers transfer trapped villagers at Nanshi Village on Wednesday in Xingtai, Hebei Province of China. (VCG/Getty)

China's south has also been hit by floods that strike annually during the monsoon season that began in May, but this rainy season has been particularly wet. Water levels in some major rivers have exceeded those of 1998, when the worst floods in recent years killed 4,150 people, most of them along the Yangtze River, China's mightiest.

Two citizens hold umbrellas while driving a electric tricycle on flooded street on Wednesday in Beijing. Average precipitation in China's capital Beijing has reached to 67.4 millimetres by Wednesday morning. (VCG/Getty)

Authorities this year have already taken emergency measures, including discharging water from the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze.

A car breaks down in deep ponding on Thursday in Beijing. Beijing's Meteorological Center has issued an orange alert for heavy rain. (VCG/Getty)

Several cities and regions have been severely affected by the heavy rainfall.The Hebei Provincial Meteorological Bureau issued a red rainstorm alert on Wednesday morning, while Beijing's Meteorological Center issued an orange alert.