More than 430,000 people were evacuated from southeast China's Fujian province, one of the regions hardest hit by Tropical Storm Bilis, while another 80,000 were moved from their homes in neighboring Zhejiang province.

Kaemi, which means "ant" in Korean, pounded Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain after making landfall there late Monday, leaving four people slightly injured when the bus they were in was hit by falling rocks.

The typhoon also forced the cancellation of flights in Taiwan, disrupted road traffic, knocked out power for thousands of residents and forced some offices to close.

Kaemi had earlier brushed past the Philippines, causing heavy rain there, with schools closed and more than 2,600 people evacuated in and around the capital of Manila on Tuesday due to heavy flooding.

After passing over Taiwan, Kaemi moved Tuesday towards Fujian, packing winds of up to 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour at its center, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

As of midday (0400 GMT) Tuesday, Kaemi was about 130 kilometers east of Fujian's Xiamen city, moving at around 16 kilometers per hour, the observatory said.

It was expected to make landfall near Xiamen later in the day, a Fujian meteorologist told AFP.

A total of 435,000 people were evacuated in Fujian, including those working in fish farms on the sea, other fishermen and residents in low-lying areas, Xinhua news agency said.

About 44,000 fishing boats were ordered to return to harbor by Tuesday, while flights from Xiamen have been postponed or cancelled.

Around 3,000 armed police equipped with speedboats were also deployed to conduct rescue and relief operations if necessary, Xinhua said.

Local authorities have been advised to monitor the safety of people living in makeshift shelters at coal mines and in mountainous areas and 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 a five-day supply of food for 300,000 people, Xinhua said.

Fujian was still trying to cope with the impact of Bilis, which struck mainland China on July 14, killing at least 43 people in the province.

Zhejiang, which did not suffer too badly from Bilis, was preparing for a much tougher time with 80,000 people evacuated by Tuesday due to the approach of Kaemi, Xinhua said.

Neighboring Guangdong province, where 106 people were killed from Bilis, was also making preparations for the strong winds and heavy rain from Kaemi, even though it was not expected to be directly hit.

Bilis killed at least 612 people in southern, eastern and central China, with 208 still missing, according to the latest figures released by the government Monday.

China's east coast is regularly hit by storms and typhoons in the summer, but the number of fatalities, missing people and economic losses are "much greater" this year than in 2005, officials said over the weekend.

The UN's panel on climate change has long held that rising temperatures would result in more severe rain storms in south and central China and drought in the north.

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