BEIJING, China: Several regions in China experienced temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, including the major southwestern city of Chongqing.

The country's national observatory has continued its red alert for extreme heat, which had been issued earlier.

A meteorological official in the eastern province of Zhejiang, home to many factories and exporters, said this year previous high temperature records have been broken, with 31 days above 35C and 16 days above 38C being witnessed.

While Chongqing saw temperatures of up to 42.1C on Saturday, the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Shandong, Anhui, Xinjiang, Jiangxi and Fujian also saw temperatures exceeding 35C.

On the weekend, a thunderstorm appeared to spare Shanghai from breaking its temperature record of 40.9C.

"It is like being in a steamer, it is really hot. Even if you do not walk around outside, you will still end up sweating," Shen Fengming, 70, said, as quoted by Reuters.

According to Shanghai's meteorological observatory, as of the weekend the city had experienced 40 days with temperatures exceeding 40C this year, peaking at 40.9C on 13th July.

China's weather bureau has previously warned that over the past 70 years, the average ground temperature in the country rose quicker than the global average, and would remain "significantly higher" in the future due to climate change.