Beijing, July 11 (IANS): Nearly a million people in eastern China's Zhejiang province have been evacuated as super typhoon Chan-Hom approaches, media reported on Saturday.

A total of 28,764 ships had been recalled to port and several towns have reported heavy rains and strong gales, the Global Times reported.

The National Meteorological Centre (NMC) issued a red alert, the highest level, on Friday for the super typhoon.

Late Friday night, the typhoon's center was 235 km southeast of Zhejiang in the East China Sea. It is moving northwestward at a speed of 20 km per hour. It is due to make landfall somewhere between Rui'an and Zhoushan in Zhejiang.

When the typhoon hits land, the wind speed at the centre of the typhoon is expected to top 58 metres per second.

The NMC said Chan-Hom could be the strongest typhoon to land in Zhejiang since 1949.

The storm has disrupted traffic, and direct-shipping routes to Taiwan from Zhejiang have been suspended since Thursday. About 100 flights were canceled. Bus and train services were being suspended.