China's severe drought eased after heavy snow fell, and two provinces had called off the top-level emergency response, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Thursday.

The office also said the area of farmland threatened by the drought had dropped under the average figure over past years.

Snow and rain since Tuesday, with the amount of rainfall from one to six millimeters in most regions of north China, had helped ease the drought, according to the office.

About 70 million mu (4.7 million hectares) of crops are still suffering from the drought as of Thursday, 91 million mu less than the worst time on February 7 and 13.8 million mu less than on Tuesday, the office said.

Local offices in the provinces of Anhui and Shandong had called off the top-level emergency response. However, drought in central Henan Province remained severe due to lack of rainfall over the past few days.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2009)