Efforts to reach at least 107 people trapped by a landslide in China's rain-hit southwestern region have been hampered by fresh rain.

Hundreds of villagers huddled in tents as rain continued to pound the village of Dazhai in Guizhou province on Tuesday morning, threatening to wash more mud down a hill.

Hopes of finding any survivors were fading as many homes remained buried after the landslide struck on Monday afternoon after days of rain.

State broadcaster CCTV showed makeshift tents set up on site as first aid stations and soldiers carrying villagers waded through water and mud to evacuate 300 residents.

"There is little chance that the people who are trapped will be able to survive," Xue, an official in Guizhou, said.

Hui Liangyu, the Chinese vice-premier, arrived at the scene on Monday night to oversee rescue efforts, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Large areas of southern China have been hit by flooding in the last two weeks, with at least 377 people killed and another 142 missing, excluding Monday's landslide.

China's civil affairs ministry said more than three million people have had to flee their homes over the past two weeks.

On Sunday, floodwaters began receding in the hard-hit south, and workers finished repairing a dyke breach that forced the evacuation of 100,000 people.

But torrential rains have continued in the region where Monday's landslide occurred.