A tornado that struck the city of Guangzhou in southern China killed five people and left 33 injured, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday, citing local authorities.

The tornado hit the city's Baiyun district on Saturday afternoon, the report said, adding it had damaged 141 factory buildings but no residential houses had collapsed, the report added.

Rescuers from the city's emergency management, weather, fire, waterworks and health departments, as well as local residents, were sent to the area, Xinhua said, adding that search and rescue work was completed there.

Last year, China's Jiangsu was hit by a violent tornado which killed 10 people after torrential rain lashed China's southeast, causing massive evacuations and landslides in the wake of unrelenting storms brought on by the remnants of Typhoon Haikui. REUTERS