In another major reassessment of the impact of devastating floods brought by Bilis, Xinhua news agency said the nation's disaster relief commission raised the death toll by 82 and the number of missing by 78.

The commission gave no reason for the sudden jump in the casualty numbers from Bilis, which first struck south and central China on July 14.

The revised numbers came after the government raised the death toll to 530 on Friday, up from 228 reported just a day earlier.

Local officials had been quoted by state media as saying the fast-rising death toll could be because authorities were initially focused on disaster relief rather than counting bodies.

Some officials also blamed the breakdown in power supply and communication and transportation infrastructure for complicating the collection of information on death and damage.

However, concerns have been raised that there may have been a cover-up.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has sent an investigative team to Hunan province, which bore the brunt of the destruction from Bilis, and also issued a notice warning against hiding the true extent of the damage.

Chinese officials at the local level are known to often instinctively cover up bad news, for fear of being punished.

The commission said Monday a total of 3.07 million people had been evacuated.

Even as China was mopping up from Bilis, it was bracing for Typhoon Kaemi expected to hit Fujian province, a major victim of Bilis, late Tuesday or early Wednesday, Xinhua quoted the Fujian observatory as saying.

Neighboring Zhejiang province is also expecting severe weather.

Some 3,000 armed police equipped with speed boats, life vests and waterproof lights have been deployed in Fujian province to conduct any eventual rescue and relief operations, Xinhua said.

The observatory has warned of rainstorms and winds of up to 72 kilometers (45 miles) per hour across Fujian province, Xinhua said.

All vessels were ordered to return to harbor by 8:00 pm Monday and local authorities have been advised to monitor the safety of people living in makeshift shelters at coal mines and in mountainous areas, the agency said.

Local governments have also been ordered to boost patrols along reservoirs and dams in preparation for flooding.

So far, Fujian province has prepared 12,000 tents, 50,000 quilts, 80,000 items of clothing and five days supply of food for 300,000 people, Xinhua said.

At 1200 GMT Monday, Kaemi was centered about 200 kilometres east of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

Forecasters said it would move northwest or west-northwest at about 20 kilometres per hour towards Taiwan.

Kaemi will be the fifth typhoon in the area this year, Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, recent rainstorms in central China's Anhui province killed three people and affected more than 220,000 others with flooding and hail, Xinhua cited local officials saying Monday.

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