More than 16,000 people have been moved from "construction sites, low-lying flood-prone areas and regions at risk of flash floods", Xinhua news agency said, while over 40,000 working on boats had been moved ashore.

Wutip is expected to bring torrential rain exceeding 100 millimetres across six cities and counties as well as winds of up to 63 mph (101 kph), Xinhua said.

Hainan has stopped high-speed rail services and its southernmost city of Sanya closed schools and tourist sites.

Wutip, the first typhoon to make landfall in the country this year, formed over the South China Sea on Wednesday, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said.

It may make landfall again along the coast from western Guangdong to Guangxi on Saturday, maintaining "severe tropical storm intensity" before turning northeastward and gradually weakening, the CMA added.

China has endured spates of extreme weather events from searing heat and drought to downpours and floods for several summers running.

The country is the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter but also a renewable energy powerhouse, seeking to cut carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2060.

Torrential rains last August triggered by Typhoon Gaemi, which moved from the Philippines and Taiwan to make landfall in eastern China, killed at least 30 people and left dozens missing.