An aerial drone photo taken on July 11, 2026 shows vessels mooring along the shore in response to the incoming typhoon in Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, is expected to make landfall along the coast between Wenling and Rui'an in east China's Zhejiang Province from Saturday night to early Sunday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The center said Bavi weakened from a strong typhoon to a typhoon at around noon on Saturday. It is forecast to continue moving northwest at a speed of about 30 kilometers per hour before making landfall.

The National Meteorological Center forecast widespread heavy rainfall across eastern China over the next three days. Zhejiang, Fujian, Shanghai, Jiangxi, Anhui, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and parts of northeast China are expected to experience heavy to torrential rain, raising the risk of secondary disasters such as mountain floods, landslides and urban waterlogging.

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, the National Meteorological Center continued to issue a red alert for rainstorms and a yellow alert for severe convective weather.

Chinese authorities on Saturday intensified emergency response measures with Typhoon Bavi set to slam into the country's eastern coast, resulting in meteorological, water resources, transport and emergency management authorities issuing alerts and reinforcing flood-control efforts ahead of the expected landfall.

The country's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated a Level-IV emergency response for flood and typhoon control in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi, all in east China, as well as southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.