The Xinhua new agency said, citing the Ministry of Civil Affairs, that over 77 million people had been affected in 14 provinces, including Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan in central and eastern China.
The news agency said the country's food committee was urging local authorities to prevent food shortages and unlawful food price hikes.
The damage from the weather is estimated at about $3 billion. The Asia Times Online reported that the disaster could "exacerbate China's already accelerating inflation" with snow storms affecting coal, food and electrical supplies.
Thousands of travelers are stranded at airports and railway stations as over 170 million migrant workers try to make their way home for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays next week.
About 50 people are reported to have been killed, including 25 passengers on a bus which skidded off a mountain road into a valley in the Guizhou province. And thousands of vehicles are reported to be trapped in snow on highways.
Some of the country's hospitals are said to be packed with people suffering from fractures and cold-related injuries.
More than 4 million hectares of farmland are affected by the storms, 107,000 houses have collapsed and 399,000 homes damaged, the civil affairs ministry told the agency.
The country authorities have allocated millions of dollars in aid and troops are handing out quilts and padded coats to the most affected.
