China asks ships to stay away from Typhoon Neoguri

BEIJING -?China's National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center (NMEFC) has told ships to change their course and step up vigilance against high waves generated by typhoon Neoguri in the East China Sea.

Neoguri, the eighth typhoon of this year, was located about 700 km from the southeastern tip of Taiwan as of noon on Monday. It is travelling at a maximum speed of 52 meters per second northward and northwestward, according to the center.

Waves up to seven meters have been monitored in the waters off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, and waves between two to 3.5 meters are expected to hit the coast of Zhejiang and northern Fujian from Monday evening to Tuesday.

The typhoon is expected to generate high waves up to 12 meters and affect fishing grounds off the eastern coast of Fujian Province, according to the NMEFC.

The NMEFC maintained an orange alert for high seas likely to be affected by Neoguri at 4 p.m. Monday.

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

The typhoon was named by the Republic of Korea. Neoguri means "raccoon dog."