Officials say an iconic skyline in Shanghai, known as The Bund, will not be lit for two nights to save energy.

The waterfront area is a popular tourist destination because of its mix of historical and futuristic buildings.

According to the Sources, power outages have hit major manufacturers in China’s Sichuan province.

A record-breaking heatwave has caused severe drought in large parts of the world’s second largest economy.

The Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau announced on Sunday that buildings along the city’s largest river, the Bund, will not be lit on Monday and Tuesday.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the notice stated.

China issued its first national drought alert of the year last week, following weeks of extreme heat in areas such as Shanghai in the Yangtze Delta region and Sichuan in southwest China.

The ‘yellow alert’ is the third most severe level on the official scale.

Power shortages were caused by rising temperatures, low rainfall, and increased demand for air conditioning, according to officials in the Sichuan province, where temperatures have surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

According to media reports, the province has extended its power-saving measures by five days to Thursday. These restrict power supply to certain industrial businesses.

Volkswagen has confirmed to the Media that its factory in Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital, is still closed.

A Volkswagen spokesperson stated that the company anticipates “a slight delay” in deliveries, which it hopes to recover “in the near future.”

“We are closely monitoring the situation and communicating with our suppliers,” the spokesperson added.

Apple supplier Foxconn, which also closed its Sichuan plant, said the impact on production was “not significant” at the moment.

Meanwhile, Toyota told the Press that it was gradually resuming production in Sichuan “using in-house power generation.

According to Chenyu Wu, an associate analyst for China and North Asia at consultancy Control Risks, power outages are likely to have a short-term impact.

“Local efforts to save power and increase generation are likely to help mitigate the power shortage situation in the coming weeks,” he said, “especially if the much-anticipated end to the scorching heat wave arrives.”

In the midst of the country’s longest heatwave on record, authorities have moved to induce rainfall in parts of central and southwest China.

According to local media, provinces surrounding the drought-stricken Yangtze River – Asia’s longest waterway – have turned to cloud seeding operations to combat the lack of rain, while Hubei and a number of other provinces have launched rockets carrying chemicals into the sky.

However, a lack of cloud cover has stymied efforts in some areas to do the same.