At least one person was killed as Super Typhoon Doksuri lashed the northern Philippines with strong winds and rain on Wednesday, causing rivers to overflow and leaving thousands without power.

Residents in coastal communities had been evacuated ahead of the storm, which brought winds of up to 175 kilometres per hour and is expected to sustain strength as it continues its course towards China later this week.

"We are being battered here," Manual Mamba, governor of northern Cagayan province told Reuters.

At least one person drowned in the province of Rizal in the wake of the storm, the national disaster agency said.

More than 4,000 passengers were stranded at various ports in the country after sea travel was suspended, the Philippine coast guard said.

Taiwan authorities said in the three hours up to 8am Wednesday, the typhoon's centre was close to hovering and at a standstill.

But authorities issued land warnings for several counties and cities in southern Taiwan including the major port city of Kaohsiung. An emergency response centre has been set up, and dozens of flights as well as many ferry services were cancelled.

Railway services between eastern and southern Taiwan will be suspended from Wednesday evening.

More than 300 people have been evacuated in the south and east of the island as a precaution as Doksuri is expected to bring up to 1 metre of rainfall there.

China's National Meteorological Centre upgraded its typhoon warning alert to red from orange as of 10am, the highest advisory among the four-tier colour coded warning system.

Hong Kong's Observatory said it will issue the standby number one storm signal on Wednesday evening, after the super typhoon moves to within 800 kilometres of the territory.

Doksuri is expected to move northwest at a speed of 10-15 kph across the northeastern part of the South China Sea Wednesday night and Thursday morning, said China's Central Meteorological Administration.

It's forecast to sweep past southern Taiwan on Thursday and to make landfall along the coast of eastern Guangdong and Fujian provinces on Friday morning. The Guangzhou Daily reported that it could be the strongest typhoon to affect eastern Guangdong in the past 10 years. (Additional reporting by Reuters)