Typhoon Bavi was downgraded to a severe tropical storm Sunday after making landfall in the eastern Zhejiang Province, where authorities had evacuated nearly two million people in its path.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The storm had earlier pummelled Japan's southern Sakishima island chain.

Bavi had maximum sustained winds of about 144 km per hour (90 mph), equivalent to Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, when it made landfall at around 11.20pm local time, according to the National Meteorological Centre.

"The core impact zone experienced fierce winds and heavy rain, with rapid runoff forming on the ground and roadside trees being uprooted," national TV station CCTV reported as Bavi struck the city of Yuhuan.

At around 5am on Sunday its intensity weakened to severe tropical storm levels, the China Weather Administration reported.

The eye of the storm was near the major commercial hub of Yiwu and is now expected to head northwest, it added, warning of force 11 winds of around 108 kilometres per hour.

Zhejiang provincial officials forecast torrential rain in coastal regions and the possibility of flash floods, transport disruptions, rivers overflowing their banks, and farmland being inundated, Xinhua said.

State media said more than 1.7 million people had been evacuated across Zhejiang, along with more than 100,000 each from neighbouring Fujian and Beijing, and some 34,000 from Shanghai.

"I'm a little worried, but I think it'll be OK. We've been through typhoons before. We'll get through it," said Wenzhou resident Huang Xinghuan, 50, who was out buying groceries at a traditional wet market before it closed ahead of the typhoon.

Huang said his family had stocked about two to three days' worth of water.

"I think supplies are well guaranteed now. There's no need to panic or stockpile a lot of food or other supplies," he added.

Ahead of the storm's arrival, classes, work, transport and outdoor activities were suspended, and more than 400 flights and dozens of train services were cancelled in Zhejiang.

"The proactive, all-out mobilisation, which is sparing no effort or cost, is undertaken entirely to guard against the (worst-case) scenario," the government in Wenzhou, a metropolis of nearly 10 million people in Zhejiang, said in a statement.

Residents used planks to reinforce metal shutters protecting shops and taped windows, with Bavi forecast to bring "exceptionally heavy rains" to eastern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian province, CCTV footage showed.

Torrential rain further north prompted the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from their homes in Beijing, the government said, as water discharge flows from the capital's Miyun Reservoir were ramped up to capture potential floodwaters.

More than 130,000 people have fled their homes in Fujian and around 34,000 people from Shanghai's coastal areas and high-risk areas, state media reported.

Bavi had been downgraded to a typhoon as it moved across the Pacific Ocean after slamming into Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday as a super typhoon.

While Japan has not so far reported any deaths from the typhoon, at least 18 people died in the Philippines due to heavy rains brought by an enhanced southwest monsoon, worsened by Bavi's impact.



Edited by Tony Sabine