Three people died after typhoon-like winds pulled them out through their apartment windows in southern China, as extreme weather battered the region over the past week.

A total of seven people had died in Jiangxi province since the exceptionally strong winds began on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday. More than 5,400 houses were damaged and 313,000 people affected, of whom about 1,600 had to be evacuated to safety, it added.

The Chinese meteorological authority issued an orange alert - the highest on its three-tier warning system – on Tuesday, the first since 2013, according to the state-run Global Times.

Four deaths and at least 10 injuries were reported in the provincial capital Nanchang, the hardest-hit city, when severe thunderstorms and heavy rains hit on Sunday, according to CCTV.