BEIJING - Rainstorms are expected to hit China's southern regions on Saturday and Sunday, with the country's national meteorological authorities issuing their least serious blue-coded alert.

From Saturday to 8 a.m. on Sunday, regions in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and provinces of Guangdong, Hunan and Guizhou will experience heavy rain or rainstorms up to 200 millimeters within 24 hours, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

The range and intensity of a heat wave that has been scorching southern provinces since July will decrease over the next three days, although high temperatures will persist in some areas, including Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province.

On Saturday, NMC also issued a high temperature alert as regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Chongqing and Sichuan will expect temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius during the daytime. Some areas will experience high temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius.