The typhoon, which hit southeast China's Fujian province on Tuesday packing winds of 120 kilometers (74 miles) an hour, was downgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday morning, but still caused widespread chaos.

Seven of the dead were killed in east China's Jiangxi province, which also had 19 people missing, the office of the national natural disaster reduction committee was quoted by the Xinhua news agency saying.

Four others were killed in two landslides in southern Guangdong province and the southern province of Hainan, with another person missing, Xinhua said.

Seven others were missing in central China's Hunan province, it said.

By 4:00 pm (0800 GMT) Wednesday, around 750,000 people had been relocated to safe places, including 649,000 in southeast China's Fujian province and 80,000 in east China's Zhejiang province, the committee and Xinhua said.

In Fujian, a 200-meter (660 feet) long levee collapsed because of heavy rainstorms brought on by Kaemi, threatening more than 20,000 people in six villages with flooding, Xinhua said.

Around 200 soldiers were immediately dispatched to the scene in Zhao'an county and by Wednesday evening they had thrown more than 5,000 sandbags into the breach, it said.

Across the south and east of China in areas still reeling from Tropical Storm Bilis, which killed more than 600 people earlier this month, authorities were implementing emergency measures to prepare for more disasters from Kaemi's relentless rain.

After Kaemi made landfall, affected provinces issued an emergency order to prepare for flooding and landslides.

Up to 12 centimeters (4.8 inches) of rain fell along the Fujian coast.

Authorities expect heavy rain for the rest of the week in several provinces.

Local press cited Li Ronggen, vice governor of Guangdong, which was not directly hit by Kaemi, urging local officials not to be complacent and to prepare for possible flooding.

"We must pay special attention to the safety of reservoirs and disasters like landslides, evacuate those in dangerous areas and prevent mishaps that can kill or injure people," Li said.

Shanghai, China's economic heart on the east coast to the north of Fujian, appeared to have missed the worst of the weather with strong winds but no heavy rain on Wednesday, but authorities there were also taking precautions.

They ordered residents to leave coastal areas and river banks and to inspect billboards, electricity poles, and makeshift shelters at construction sites to ensure flying debris did not cause damage.

The nation's railway system -- an important mode of transportation for millions -- was also under guard, after the key north-south Beijing-Guangzhou line was disrupted by Bilis, stranding thousands of residents in train cars.

Xinhua cited the ministry of railways saying that typhoons this summer disrupted train services 78 times on 17 of China's arterial railways, stopping operations for a total of 604 hours.

Traffic had resumed on most flood-damaged lines after repairs.

Bilis was similarly downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm before it hit China on July 14.

It hovered over the south and center of the country for nearly 10 days, dumping massive rains and wreaking havoc in cities as well as mountainous areas.

The death toll in China from Bilis stood at 612 with another 208 people missing, state media had said.

The Red Cross Society of China meanwhile has delivered funds and supplies, including tents and quilts, worth 2.54 million US dollars, to help people still trying to cope in the aftermath of Bilis, Xinhua cited the group as saying.

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