Beijing, Sep 12 (IANS): China's national observatory on Sunday continued its orange alert, the second highest, for typhoon Chanthu, which is expected to make landfall in or pass Zhejiang province on Monday.

At 9 a.m. Sunday, the centre of Chanthu, the 14th typhoon of this year, moved to waters off eastern Taiwan, or at a latitude of 24 degrees north and a longitude of 122.4 degrees east, Xinhua news agency quoted the National Meteorological Centre as saying.

It packed a gale of 52 metres per second, according to the Centre.

Moving northward at a speed of 20 to 25 km per hour, Chanthu will make landfall in or pass the coastal area near Zhoushan on Monday, it added.

From 2 p.m. Sunday to 2 p.m. Monday, the typhoon will likely bring gale-force winds and rainstorms to regions including Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Taiwan.

China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.