So far, Fujian province has prepared 12,000 tents, 50,000 quilts, 80,000 items of clothing and a five-day supply of food for 300,000 people, Xinhua said.

Fujian was still trying to cope with the impact of Bilis, which struck mainland China on July 14, killing at least 43 people in the province.

Zhejiang, which did not suffer too badly from Bilis, was preparing for a much tougher time with 80,000 people evacuated by Tuesday due to the approach of Kaemi, Xinhua said.

Neighboring Guangdong province to the south, where 106 people were killed from Bilis, was also making preparations for the strong winds and heavy rain from Kaemi, even though it was not expected to be directly hit.

Bilis killed at least 612 people in southern, eastern and central China, with 208 still missing, according to the latest figures released by the government Monday.

China's east coast is regularly hit by storms and typhoons in the summer, but the number of fatalities, missing people and economic losses are "much greater" this year than in 2005, officials said over the weekend.

The UN's panel on climate change has long held that rising temperatures would result in more severe rain storms in south and central China and drought in the north.

In another separate development during a brutal period of weather for north Asia, the International Red Cross said at least 121 people had been killed and another 127 missing in North Korea following heavy storms in mid-July.

Nearly 17,000 families had been left homeless in five North Korean provinces with rain totally or partially destroying 23,400 houses, the Red Cross said.