BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China has urged seven provinces, including the coastal regions of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang, to stay alert and prepare for disaster relief as typhoon Chanchu moves closer to south China after killing dozens of people in the Philippines.

    Chanchu, or "Pearl" in Chinese, was lying about 480 kilometers south of Hong Kong late Tuesday afternoon and is moving north at 18 km per hour towards the city and southern China's Guangdong province, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. It is the strongest typhoon on record to enter the South China Sea during the month of May.

    The typhoon may hit the coastal regions between Guandong's Shenzhen City and Raoping County on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, but may also bypass Guangdong and move toward Fujian or the Taiwan Straits instead, according to the meteorological station in Guangzhou.

    The seven provinces have been told to activate emergency plans,evacuate people threatened by typhoons and ensure the survival of disaster victims.

    The Ministry of Civil Affairs has allocated 3,200 tents to Fujian to help the evacuation.

    The typhoon ravaged central Philippines on Saturday, killing over 30 people and leaving more than 1,000 others homeless. Enditem

Typhoon Chanchu approaches Guangdong   (2006-05-16 12:47:15)

Many fishing boats berth at a dock in Quanzhou, Fujian Province to evade Typhoon Chanchu, May 16. Typhoon Chanchu is approaching South China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua photo)

      GUANGZHOU, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Chanchu is approaching South China's Guangdong Province, with its center located about 640 kilometers south of the boom city Shenzhen Tuesday morning.

    The center of the typhoon was located at 16.8 degrees north latitude and 114.9 degrees east longitude at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to move northward at 15 to 20 kilometers per hour in the coming 24 hours, said the meteorological station in Guangzhou.

    It said the maximum wind speed at its center was 45 meters per second, or 14 on the wind scale.

    The typhoon may land in the coastal regions between Shenzhen and Raoping County Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, but may also bypass Guangdong and move toward Fujian Province or the Taiwan Strait instead, said Huang Zhong, chief weatherman at the Guangzhou station.

    He said the typhoon will bring high wind in seawaters off Guangdong Province as well as rainstorms in most parts of the province and south of the Pearl River Delta starting Tuesday night.

    The stormy weather will last until Thursday, he added.

    Fujian and Hainan provinces are also being prepared for the typhoon, the earliest and probably the strongest to attack South China at this time of the year.

    Hainan Province has called off passenger transport between the island province and Guangdong by sea and by rail.

    Chanchu, whose name means "pearl", formed in the northwestern Pacific, about 550 km to the east of Mindanao island in the Philippines on May 9. It hit central Philippines on Saturday, killing at least 32 people and leaving more than 1,000 others homeless. Enditem