BEIJING, May 10 (Reuters) - China is likely to be hit by more typhoons, floods and drought this year than at any time in the past decade because of global climate change, the China Daily reported on Thursday, citing a top meteorological official.

"Temperatures in most areas will be higher this year than in previous years, and typhoons are expected to arrive in larger numbers than last year," the newspaper cited Zheng Guoguang, director of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) as telling a conference.

Heavy rainfalls could hit the south, centering on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as the north, affecting most the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it quoted Zheng as saying.

China is frequently hit by floods, typhoons and drought. In the summer of 1998, the worst floods in decades led to the deaths of some 4,000 people. Typhoons, floods and droughts killed 2,702 people in 2006, state media said.

Late last year drought hit some of China's major wheat growing areas in the north, leading to a decline in the country's winter wheat production.

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