Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, landed on the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province at around 11:20 p.m. Saturday, according to the Zhejiang provincial meteorological observatory.
The typhoon, with the maximum wind force at its center reaching 40 meters per second, churned ashore at Yuhuan City, a county-level city administered by the city of Taizhou.
After the landfall, the typhoon is expected to continue to move northwestward while weakening.
Zhejiang Province raised its typhoon emergency response to the highest level as of 11:00 a.m. Saturday.
As of 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Zhejiang had evacuated nearly 1.72 million residents to safe locations, local authorities said.
(With input from Xinhua)