BEIJING, July 30 -- The Chinese government on Sunday upgraded emergency response measures in five provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, to guard against floods, as rainstorms swept the country's northern regions.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised the emergency response for flooding to Level II in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Henan at 9 a.m. Sunday, following an upgrade to Level III for these five regions and Shandong on Saturday.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most urgent response.

Five work teams have been dispatched by the headquarters to key areas in the country's north to help with local flood prevention.

The Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) held video consultations with three other government departments on Sunday morning to analyze the situation and the influence of rainfall, and to arrange flood control and response in key areas within the five provincial-level regions.

The country's northern regions are in "the most critical period" of the rainfall process, according to an MEM statement on the consultations, which noted that the "extremity and uncertainty" of the rainfall should be fully considered.

The statement urged authorities to spare no efforts in coping with the torrential rain, while keeping casualties and losses to the minimum.

It ordered a slew of specific measures, including flood control for reservoirs, the timely evacuation of people in risky areas, and the arrangement of disaster response and relief personnel and materials.

The Ministry of Water Resources upgraded the emergency response for flooding in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region to Level II at 12 p.m. Sunday.

Several rivers in the region are expected to see floods, as heavy rainfall is forecast in most parts of the Haihe River basin from Sunday to Monday, the ministry said in a statement available on its website.

It has called on local governments to immediately activate emergency response and prepare to put floodwater detention and retention areas into use.

Authorities should closely monitor the weather, update forecasts on the rainfall and water levels, and strengthen consultation, research and information transmission, the ministry said.

It also urged the sound operation of water projects, full use of major reservoirs to retard flooding, better inspection and protection of dikes, among other efforts, with all-out efforts made to protect people's lives and property.

Heavy downpours have swept parts of north China since Saturday, with some regions seeing maximum hourly precipitation reaching 40 to 90 millimeters. The rain has forced the evacuation of over 20,000 people in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province.

The National Meteorological Center continued to issue a red alert, the country's highest weather alert, for rainstorms on Sunday. It has pledged to provide the most precise forecasts possible, give live weather updates and improve early warnings.