China's official Xinhua news agency said that the tornado hit the Guangdong Province capital, in the country's south, around 3 pm (0700 GMT).
Chinese Communist Party officials are rushing to withdraw money from banks and selling luxury properties after the party launched a crackdown on corruption, media reports said today.
The latest issue of a Chinese newspaper at the centre of anti-censorship protests appeared on newsstands in Beijing and Shanghai on Thursday as usual, but not its home city Guangzhou.
Scores of supporters of one of China's most liberal newspapers demonstrated outside its headquarters on Monday in a rare protest against censorship, calling for the resignation of the provincial propaganda chief.