China renews alert against approaching Typhoon Yagi

China's national observatory on Sunday issued a blue alert against the strengthening Typhoon Yagi, which packed with heavy rainstorm, is forecast to land in the eastern coastal region.

This year's 14th typhoon, Yagi, packed with winds of up to 30 meters per second, is expected to make landfall on the coasts between Wenzhou and Xiangshan in Zhejiang Province as early as on Sunday evening, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement. It will weaken after that and continue moving northwestward into the inland, the NMC said.

The coastal areas have been well-prepared, striving to mitigate the losses.

In the town of Qiangjiao, east China's Zhejiang Province, all the fishing boats have been called back to harbour and many cargo ships have also reached the anchorage ground.

Local residents have been persuaded to stay away from the coasts. Power generating vehicles and electricians are on the standby.

The typhoon hit upon a time of the arrival of the six astronomical tide. It will plunge Shanghai into a grave situation of simultaneous occurrence of Typhoon, rainstorm and astronomical tide. The city launched a third level emergency response at 09:50 on Sunday.

The rainstorm began to intensify in the downtown area. Part of the passenger trains and flights have been cancelled. The city issued the blue level warning against the high tide of the Huangpu River.

There has been no big area flooding so far. The Hongqiao and Pudong international airports have cancelled about 200 flights. All the trains destined for the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and southern coastal areas have been called off.

Two cruise ships left the Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal three hours earlier than scheduled.

The water level in the Hangzhou bay of the Huangpu River is likely to rise above the warning level on Monday.