China evacuates more than 1.8 million as Typhoon Bavi nears landfall

Chinese authorities have evacuated more than 1.8 million people as Typhoon Bavi approaches the eastern city of Wenzhou, after battering Japan's Sakishima Islands with heavy rain and strong winds and passing north of Taiwan.

Although the storm has slowed and weakened as it moves northwest over cooler waters, it continues to pose a significant threat due to the vast amount of moisture it carries. Its rain bands cover an area roughly the size of France.

China's National Meteorological Center said Typhoon Bavi was packing maximum sustained winds of 144 kph (89 mph), equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. As of 0808 GMT, the storm was located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Wenling in Zhejiang province.

Bavi is expected to make landfall near Wenzhou, a city of around 10 million people, in the early hours of Sunday.

State media reported that more than 1.7 million people were evacuated from Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, while more than 100,000 others were evacuated from neighboring Fujian province.