China renews blue alert for Typhoon Bavi

China's National Meteorological Center has advised people and vessels in disaster-prone areas to take shelter from winds. - AFP

BEIJING (Xinhua): China's national observatory on Sunday (Aug 23) renewed a blue alert for Typhoon Bavi, which is expected to bring gales to south and southeast China.

The typhoon, the eighth this year, strengthened from a tropical depression Saturday morning and was observed at waters 390km west of the city of Naha in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture at 5am Sunday, with a maximum wind force of 100.8 km/h at the centre, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.