(BSS/AFP) - A landslide unleashed by unusually heavy rain killed four people and left eight others missing in northern China`s Hebei province, state media reported on Monday, as downpours force thousands to evacuate.

The landslide in Chengde City was "due to heavy rainfall", state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The national emergency management department said it dispatched a team to inspect the "severe" flooding in Hebei, which encircles the capital Beijing.

Swathes of northern China have been inundated in recent days, with record rain in Hebei killing two people on Saturday, state media said.

In Fuping County, over 4,600 people were evacuated over the weekend, it said.

And in neighbouring Shanxi province, one person was rescued and 13 are missing after a bus accident, CCTV reported.

Footage from the broadcaster showed roads in Shanxi and a crop field submerged in rushing water on Sunday.

And in the capital, over 3,000 people in the suburban Miyun district were evacuated due to torrential rains.

The area`s reservoir "recorded its largest inflow flood" since it was built over six decades ago, state media reported.

Footage shared by CCTV showed cars swept away by the deluge.

Natural disasters are common in vast China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heatwaves.

China is the world`s biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense.

But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.

Flash floods in eastern China`s Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month.

A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.