Forty-seven people were buried when a landslide struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China on Monday, state media reported.

The pre-dawn landslide hit in Zhenxiong County, Yunnan province, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing local authorities.

State broadcaster CCTV said around 18 households were buried, and that more than 200 people were "urgently evacuated" from the area.

Authorities have launched an emergency response involving over 200 rescue workers as well as dozens of fire engines and other equipment, according to CCTV.

Two people had been found dead at the site as of 1:30pm local time (0530 GMT), CCTV said, citing a reporter on the scene.

One local told the state-run Beijing News outlet that she was asleep when the disaster hit and that parts of her ceiling had fallen onto her head.

"At the time I thought it was an earthquake, but later I knew it was the hillslope collapsing," another resident told the outlet.

Both were quoted under pseudonyms.

Footage shared on social media by a local broadcaster showed emergency workers in orange jumpsuits and helmets forming ranks outside a fire station as snowflakes whirled through the air.

A still photo from a video shows a view of a landslide in Liangshui Village, Zhaotong City, China. Reuters

Other images showed rescuers picking through towering piles of collapsed masonry in which a few personal belongings could be seen.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged "all-out" rescue efforts, CCTV reported.

Xi "demanded that rescue forces are organised quickly... and efforts made to reduce casualties as far as possible," the broadcaster reported him as saying.

He added that it was "necessary to properly handle the work of comforting the families of the deceased and resettling affected people".

CCTV broadcast an image it said showed a firefighter working to pull a trapped villager from inside a home affected by the disaster.

Agence France-Presse