BEIJING - China has experienced the highest temperatures in August since 1961, the country's weather authorities said on Thursday.

The country's average temperature stood at 22.3 degrees Celsius from the beginning of August, 1.3 degrees Celsius higher than the average level in previous years, said Chen Zhenlin, a spokesperson with China Meteorological Administration.

Most parts of China saw temperatures higher than or close to average levels, but parts in Guangdong, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia reported temperatures 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius lower than average.

Areas from the Yellow River and Huaihe River to the northern parts of southern China, as well as Qinghai, posted remarkably high temperatures, about 2 to 4 degrees Celsius above normal.

The average temperature for eight provincial-level regions stood at 29.6 degrees Celsius, about 2.8 degrees Celsius higher than that of the same period in the previous years.

The eight regions include Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Hunan, Jiangxi and Hubei.