China renews blue alert for Typhoon Khanun

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Saturday renewed a blue alert as Typhoon Khanun, the sixth typhoon this year, continues to move northeast on the East China Sea.

From 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday, strong winds with speeds of 39 to 74 kilometers per hour are expected in most parts of the South China Sea, the Beibu Gulf, the Taiwan Strait, the Bashi Channel, areas to the east of China's Taiwan island, the East China Sea and the waters near the Diaoyu Islands, as well as the coastal areas of Guangxi, Taiwan island, the western coast of Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong and the western coast of Hainan, with wind gusts surpassing 100 kilometers per hour, according to the National Meteorological Center.

In the same period, heavy rainfall to rainstorms with precipitation up to 120 millimeters are forecast to lash some coastal areas of Guangxi, and parts of Guangdong and Taiwan island, the center said.

It has advised the aforementioned regions to make emergency preparations for the typhoon.

Typhoon Khanun, which weakened to a severe tropical storm on Saturday morning, is expected to move out of the East China Sea on Sunday morning, according to the center.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.